EA petitions against Edge Games trademarks

You know that term “the shoe’s on the other foot now?” I would imagine that means that your left or right shoe is now on your opposite foot and you are having trouble walking, keeping your balance and looking like a complete and utter fool. That is probably how Tim Langdell, former International Game Developers Association (IGDA) board member and litigious CEO of Edge Games, must feel right now. In case you don’t recall, Langdell is known best for using people over the use of the term “edge.”

Well according to a GamePolitics report, today Langdell’s company is facing a Consolidated Petition for Cancellation filed by Electronic Arts and its wholly-owned subsidiary EA Digital Illusions CE AB. The petition calls for the cancellation of such trademarks as “The Edge,” “Gamer’s Edge,” “Edge” and “Cutting Edge.” These - and no doubt other “edge” related trademarks - are registered to Edge Games.

EA’s argument is a solid one and its interest is mostly due to Edge Games’ attempts to sue it for Mirror’s Edge, which it has a common law trademark for. But it seems like EA wants to make a point here in its argument: that Langdell’s company doesn’t have the rights to the trademarks it owns, using an old Snoopy computer game with “The Edge” clearly on its packaging as an example. This old game was discontinued years before the filing of the application in 1996.

For those that have been sued by Edge Games, EA must seem almost saint-like.

Microsoft Sued for $90 Million Over Halo and Xbox LIVE

Apparently, in these hard economic times, one way some companies are trying to get by is by painting targets on other companies with much bigger wallets. And when you talk about companies with big wallets, well, you can’t find a much bigger target these days than Microsoft. Enter PalTalk Holdings, who is suing Microsoft to the tune of $90 million, claiming that MS has infringed on patents PalTalk bought from MPath Interactive. PalTalk claims the two patents in question were infringed upon by Microsoft in the creation of the Halo games and the Xbox LIVE service.

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Worlds.com Sues NCSoft Over MMO Technology

Interesting bit of news out of the MMO world today, as Worlds.com Inc., a company known for creating virtual worlds back in the 90s, announced that it had filed a civil suit against NCSoft for patent infringement. Worlds.com is trying to enforce patent #7,181,690, which it was originally filed for back in 1996. The patent, in short, describes a “highly scalable architecture for a three-dimensional graphical, multi-user, interactive virtual world system”. In the broader scale, Worlds.com is claiming that the patent gives it controlling interest in the massive multiplayer online market. The first company it’s lining up in its legal crosshairs is NCSoft, the company behind the MMO games City of Heroes, Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars, and even the free to play MMO Dungeon Runners. In the suit, Worlds.com is seeking a permanent injunction keeping NCSoft from infringing on the patent in question, as well as unspecified monetary damages.

Based on a quick read through of the complaint filed in Texas court, it looks like World.com is going after NCSoft simply for its use of MMO technology. So why not go after Blizzard or Sony first? It looks like NCSoft was just the unlucky first case. Admittedly, it’s a smart move on World.com’s part, as NCSoft is a big enough target to help establish a case against other companies in the future should World.com win this first lawsuit, while at the same time, NCSoft it not so big as to have the huge bankroll for a massive legal battle. Win or lose, this’ll certainly be a case to watch in the coming year.

Virtual World Times has a full PDF copy of the complaint here.