Patent Trolling at its finest.
Gibson's lawsuits against Activision over Guitar Hero and the trio of Electronic Arts, Activision and Viacom (owners of MTV) over Rock Band are getting messy.
For those of you who somehow haven't heard, Gibson is suing everyone I mentioned above because of a patent they filed some time back - after the release of Konami's Guitar Freaks, mind you - for technology "simulating a musical performance." Now, ignoring how ridiculously vague that is for a moment, let's look at the full patent in question (I'd link straight to the US Patent and Trademark Office page, but it's giving me crap right now). Take a look at that picture. We have a stereoscopic headset, an 8-channel mixer, and a real musical instrument. Guitar Hero has none of these things. Indeed, you're not simulating anything close to what Gibson is talking about here in this patent with either Guitar Hero OR Rock Band. These games are nothing more than Amplitude with cute novelty controllers.
(source: http://www.little-gamers.com )
So why are we here? Why are we talking about a lawsuit regarding a patent that is wildly different from the products in question? Am I perhaps oversimplifying Rock Band and Guitar Hero? Am I maybe overanalyzing the Gibson patent? Or is it that maybe, just maybe, Gibson saw just how popular Guitar Hero has been for the last few years and decided that their licensing deal with Activision just isn't enough money? We've seen many instances of patent trolling over the years, though most end with either out-of-court settlements or the suing party being bought out. That isn't going to happen here, or at least it seems like it isn't. The Evil Assimilators have an army of lawyers that would likely put several real armies to shame, and with Activision and Vivendi recently forming like Voltron, they've likely got an impressive set of legal eagles as well.
(Source: Superpunch.blogspot.com)
In other words, I fully expect Gibson to be nicely roasted in court, assuming they don't have a fit of common sense and withdraw these ridiculous lawsuits.
I also expect future Guitar Hero controllers to NOT be based on Gibson models.
For those of you who somehow haven't heard, Gibson is suing everyone I mentioned above because of a patent they filed some time back - after the release of Konami's Guitar Freaks, mind you - for technology "simulating a musical performance." Now, ignoring how ridiculously vague that is for a moment, let's look at the full patent in question (I'd link straight to the US Patent and Trademark Office page, but it's giving me crap right now). Take a look at that picture. We have a stereoscopic headset, an 8-channel mixer, and a real musical instrument. Guitar Hero has none of these things. Indeed, you're not simulating anything close to what Gibson is talking about here in this patent with either Guitar Hero OR Rock Band. These games are nothing more than Amplitude with cute novelty controllers.
(source: http://www.little-gamers.com )
So why are we here? Why are we talking about a lawsuit regarding a patent that is wildly different from the products in question? Am I perhaps oversimplifying Rock Band and Guitar Hero? Am I maybe overanalyzing the Gibson patent? Or is it that maybe, just maybe, Gibson saw just how popular Guitar Hero has been for the last few years and decided that their licensing deal with Activision just isn't enough money? We've seen many instances of patent trolling over the years, though most end with either out-of-court settlements or the suing party being bought out. That isn't going to happen here, or at least it seems like it isn't. The Evil Assimilators have an army of lawyers that would likely put several real armies to shame, and with Activision and Vivendi recently forming like Voltron, they've likely got an impressive set of legal eagles as well.
(Source: Superpunch.blogspot.com)
In other words, I fully expect Gibson to be nicely roasted in court, assuming they don't have a fit of common sense and withdraw these ridiculous lawsuits.
I also expect future Guitar Hero controllers to NOT be based on Gibson models.
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