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Somebody at Gibson must have been rummaging through the archives, as they recently claimed to own the patent on musical simulatin’ technology… and Activision needs to pay up. This attack comes despite several years of Gibson lending their trademarks to the Guitar Hero franchise. Gibson informed Activision of this back in January, and today Activision asked a California court to find the claim invalid. Gibson stands firm:

“Based on our preliminary analysis, the ‘Guitar Hero’ software (including any expansion packs) and the guitar controller provided by Activision being used as a musical instrument (packaged with the software or sold standalone) are covered by the … patent,” Gibson’s law firm said in its January 7 letter. “Gibson requests that Activision obtain a license under Gibson’s … patent or halt sales of any version of the ‘Guitar Hero’ game software.”

I would assume the Gibson licensing deal was struck during the Harmonix days; did Activision do something secret and specific to sour Gibson, or is Harmonix/Rock Band next on their hit list? After all, the guitar portions of the games are more or less identical.

Gibson’s patent “showed a method for simulating a live performance using a musical instrument, a 3D headset with stereo speakers, and a pre-recorded concert.” Until Gibson comes up with 1999-era documents that show a downsized plastic guitar with five candy colored fret buttons, I’m not convinced. Those juicy Guitar Hero sales are just too attractive to lawyers.

via Yahoo News/Reuters