Court Denies Injunction Against EA Over Tim Langdell's 'Edge' Trademark; Slams Langdell
from the trademark-trolls dept
We've covered a few different stories about a guy named Tim Langdell who held a trademark on the term "edge" in video games, which he had used many years ago, and still sorta kinda maybe uses as part of his operation, "Edge Games." And yet, he seemed to think that trademark law means he owns the word, as it relates to video games, forever. So he's been threatening iPhone developers and sued EA, claiming the company's Mirrors Edge series violates his trademarks. EA has fought back strongly against the claims, and Brian alerts us to the news that a court has denied Langdell's injunction request and slammed Langdell in the process, suggesting underhanded practices which could result in criminal penalties.The court has denied Edge Games' motion for injunction, citing that it believes that Langdell made fraudulent statements to the US Patent and Trademark Office and strongly believes that Langdell is "suspect" and has been "trolling" the game industry for licensing opportunities. His actions could possibly warrant "criminal penalties."When a judge calls you a troll and threatens you with criminal penalties in a lawsuit you initiated... you've got problems. Reading through the actual ruling is incredible, in what it describes about what Langdell has done. I would argue that the above paragraph significantly downplays Langdell's actions, which the court notes, at one point, that the evidence suggests Langdell "willfully committed fraud." You can see the full ruling here:
For example, Dr. Langdell's declaration asserted that Edge Games has been selling the video game Mythora (supposedly bearing the "EDGE" mark) since 2004. Curiously, while the exterior packaging submitted by Dr. Langdell to the USPTO for the Mythora video game included a website address "www.mythora.com," this website wasn't even registered by Edge Games until October 2008 -- nearly four years after the game's purported release.... The USPTO relied upon this questionable video-game packaging when it renewed plaintiff's "EDGE" mark in 2009The ruling goes on to note many more cases of images sent to the USPTO, where the images appear to be doctored, even mockingly saying after one such "real" and "submitted" comparison:
"Once again playing "spot the differences," the specimen submitted to the USPTO appears to have been doctored in three material ways."This is a judge who is not happy.
The more you read, the more bizarre it gets. Since it's questionable as to whether or not Langdell had really been using these marks in commerce all along, EA's lawyers tried to see if he's really using them today. So it went and tried to buy some of the games he's claiming to sell... and they got error messages every time.
At this point, one would hope that Langdell realizes it's time to back off. He could, in theory, push for a full trial (this was just a move to get an injunction), but he must realize that his chances of winning this case are about as close to zero as you can imagine -- and the deeper he digs, the more trouble he may find himself in.
The story is yet another example of the dangers of trying to abuse the legal system sometimes. It can certainly come back to bite you.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: edge, mirror's edge, tim langdell, trademark, video games
Companies: ea
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"it can certainly come back to bite you."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I find myself wishing they could both lose the case.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
A pessimist says that regardless of who loses, one of them will definitely win.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
http://www.amazon.com/Racers-Pc/product-reviews/B002PXUZU0/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_5?ie=UTF8& showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addFiveStar
I've never seen anything so remarkably ridiculous.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
In Soviet Russia, It Grabs You!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
OK, I know the publisher wrote the review
"From the sublime cover art through to the numerous and tastefully typeset trademarks that adorn the back of the case, Racers® is a real looker."
This guy is a chump.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nice
And guys, do you realize that the review was probably written by someone *mocking* the trademarks, and not the company itself? Especially how it added a (tm) after 'edge' in the middle of a sentence?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]