Activision’s Guitar Hero Violates Gibson Patent

Gibson Guitar Inc. has sent a letter to Activision claiming the Guitar Hero video games infringe on a 1999 Gibson patent for technology that “simulates a musical performance”. Activison is asking the Central California US District Court to find Gibson’s patent invalid.
Activision sure seems to be finding itself in hot water over Guitar Hero lately. No word on if this will affect Rock Band or not.
-Wedge
March 12th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
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March 12th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
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March 15th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
[...] 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. [...]
March 20th, 2008 at 8:08 am
[...] Activison has sent out a press release defending themselves against the assertions from Gibson that Guitar Hero violates a 1999 Gibson patent. The press release claims that Gibson’s lawsuit is “transparent” and has ”no merit”. [...]