Patent Dispute Over ‘Guitar Hero’ Video Game

Santa Monica, Calif.-based video game publisher Activision Inc. has requested a federal court declare that its popular "Guitar Hero" game does not violate a 1999 patent held by guitar maker Gibson Guitar Corp.

The request is an attempt to thwart Gibson’s effort to stop Activision from selling the “Guitar Hero” game until it gets a license under Gibson’s patent.  Activision claims it does not want or need a license under the patent.  

According to Activision’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Gibson’s patent covers a virtual-reality device that simulates the user’s participation in a concert.   

Activision’s "Guitar Hero" game lets users play songs using a plastic, stringless plastic guitar by following graphics displayed on a TV to which the game’s console is connected. Animated musicians play along and are also displayed on the TV.  

The dispute began in January, after Gibson notified Activision the company was in violation of a patent titled "System and Method for Generating and Controlling a Simulated Musical Concert Experience,” the complaint said.

In a statement made Wednesday, George Rose, Activision’s general counsel, said, "We disagree with the applicability of their patent and would like a legal determination on this."

The lawsuit included a copy of the Nov. 23, 1999 patent, which describes a device that lets users "simulate participation in a concert by playing musical instrument and wearing a head-mounted 3-D display that includes stereo speakers."  

The patent also describes the device as having features such as playback of audio and video of a prerecorded concert and a separate track of audio from the user’s instrument.

The “Guitar Hero” game has been a windfall for Activision, and played a large part in the company’s recent 90 percent profit increase during the last three months of 2007. In particular, the company cited its popular “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock” game as playing a key role in the quarter’s performance.

Shares of Activision were down 1 percent on Wednesday, to  $26.82.
 
An Associated Press report said after-hours calls to Nashville, Tenn.-based Gibson were not answered.

—

On the Net:

Activision Inc.

Gibson Guitar Corp.

System and method for generating and controlling a simulated musical concert experience – United States Patent 5990405