Gibson May Have Got Their “Guitar Hero” Patent Idea From Konami
Next Generation has been taking a look into Gibson’s recent claim that Guitar Hero infringes on a patent that they have held since 1999.
…Konami’s GuitarFreaks game made its debut in Japan in 1999, meaning it was most likely in the production and planning phases since 1998 at the latest.
My guess is that someone in the Gibson corporation’s marketing department heard of GuitarFreaks in 1999 and immediately checked to see if Konami had filed a patent in the US. When their search revealed no results, they filed a patent themselves, and waited patiently. For nine years. How utterly slimy.
It may be somewhat underhanded, but it was also a smart business move. I still wonder if and how this will effect Electronic Arts and Rock Band.
-Wedge
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:48 am
[...] There seems little doubt that Gibson is trying to cash in on Rock Band and Guitar Hero, but can you really blame them? They did have the foresight to file the paten when Konami did not. We will just have to wait and see what the court thinks of all this. [...]