Gibson Guitar Sues Retailers Over 'Guitar Hero' Video Game
Guitar maker says the video game violates a patent it holds.
— -- Gibson Guitar Corp. on Thursday sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and five other major retailers that sell the Activision "Guitar Hero" game, claiming it violates a patent it holds.
A federal lawsuit filed Monday claims Wal-Mart, Target Corp., Kmart, Amazon.com, GameStop Corp. and Toys "R" Us should stop selling the game.
Gibson has already tried to stop video game publisher Activision Inc. from selling all versions of the game, claiming it too closely matches a musical virtual-reality patent from 1999.
The guitar company said in a released statement that it took "this action reluctantly, but is required to protect itsintellectual property."
Earlier this month, Activision filed suit in California asking a federal judge to declare the game does not violate the patent.
Spokeswomen for Wal-Mart and Amazon.com said the companies do not comment on pending litigation. Officials with the four other retailers did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Santa Monica, Calif.,-based Activision contends Gibson's patent assertions have no merit. Gibson has said it wants Activision to stop selling "Guitar Hero" until it gets a license under the patent.
"Our 'Guitar Hero' retailing partners have done nothing wrong," Activision said in released statement. "We will confront this and any other efforts by Gibson to wrongfully interfere with Activision's relationship with its customers and its consumers."
Gibson attorneys sent Activision a letter in January accusing it of violating a patent titled "System and Method for Generating and Controlling a Simulated Musical Concert Experience," according to a lawsuit filed by Activision.
A copy of the patent is included in Gibson's lawsuit and dated Nov. 23, 1999. It describes a device that lets a user "simulate participation in a concert by playing a musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3-D display that includes stereo speakers."
The device also includes playback of audio and video of a prerecorded concert and a separate track of audio from the user's instrument.
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