Gibson Can't Resist, Sues Another Video Game For Infringement, Despite Being Smacked Down By Court Last Time

from the remember-last-time dept

You may remember a few years back when Gibson Guitars sued a ton of companies -- video game makers, retailers and more -- for supposedly violating patent 5,990,405 on creating a simulated musical concert. In the lawsuit, Gibson suggested that "the '405 Patent covers any system where a user controls something 'musical' with any device." Yeah. Well, last time around, the court did not look too kindly on these claims, and told Gibson that suing over this patent "bordered on frivolous" and noted that "no reasonable person of ordinary skill in the relevant arts would interpret the '405 Patent as covering interactive video games."

Following that ruling, Gibson quickly "settled" the lawsuit. But, apparently it was just itching to try again. Via Mike Wokasch, we learn that Gibson has sued again, over the same patent, this time targeting 745 LLC, the makers of the game "PowerGig: Rise of the SixString." Now, at least this game is a little bit closer to what Gibson had claimed in the patent. PowerGig is basically a really weak Guitar Hero clone, with the big difference being that the device is actually a real guitar. Still, it seems like a huge stretch to claim that then makes the patent apply. The judge was pretty clear last time that no reasonable person would interpret the patent to cover interactive video games, but apparently Gibson is hoping whoever hears the case this time is not, in fact, a reasonable person.

Filed Under: patents, powergig, video games
Companies: 745, gibson