Gibson Extends Patent Suits to Rock Band

Remember when Gibson filed suit against partner Activision for infringing on a concert simulation patent involving a 3D headset? Now it's Rock Band's turn.

Gibson Guitar Corp.—the same company that makes the iconic Les Pau electric guitar—holds a patent that describes a concert simulation system whereby a user would wear a 3D, virtual-reality headset and pretend to participate in a music concert while playing their own musical instrument. The company filed for the patent in 1998 (it was granted in late 1999), and apparently filed in a drawer when the whole "VR" craze got canceled along with Lawnmower Man and the TV series VR5.

But Gibson apparently found the patent again, and—never a company to be shy about suing over trademarks and patents—apparently targeted Guitar Hero publisher (and business partner!) Activision, demanding that they license the patent and, presumably, cut Gibson in on a share of the Guitar Hero franchise. (Never mind that Gibson’s guitar designs have already been licensed for Guitar Hero game controllers.) Activision has filed a suit to establish that Gibson’s patent doesn’t apply to Guitar Hero; Gibson apparently was nonplussed, because it next took action against retailers stocking Guitar Hero—including giants like Wal-Mart.

But Gibson isn’t stopping with Guitar Hero: now the company has filed suit against Harmonix, creators of Guitar Hero competitor Rock Band, alleging the Rock Band game (in which players take on roles of guitarists, bassists, singers, and drummers in a video game using custom controllers) also infringes on Gibson’s patent covering playing along with a pre-recorded concert using a musical instrument and a 3D headset.

Rock Band publisher Electronic Arts has yet to comment on the suit, but in a statement Harmonix wrote "This lawsuit is completely without merit, and we intend to defend it vigorously."

Harmonix developed the first Guitar Hero game, and was later purchased by MTV. Activision continues to develop the Guitar Hero franchise.

Gibson may be fighting an uphill battle: it’s not immediately clear how its headset-and-instrument vision of playing along to pre-recorded concerts applies to Guitar Hero or Rock Band (which use neither a headset, nor real instruments, nor pre-recorded concert performances). And Guitar Hero has been on the market for more than three years, selling over 14 million copies: by letting their claim lay idle for so long while at the same time licensing designs for use in the game, Gibson may have granted Activision a de facto license: there’s no way Gibson can claim to have been unaware of Guitar Hero all that time.

Gibson has increasingly been attempting to insert itself into the world of digital music technology, recently promoting a content protection scheme aimed at physical media like DVDs.