Activision Responds To Gibson Lawsuit

Following Gibson Guitar's recent allegations of patent violations against Activision related to Guitar Hero, Activision has released a statement declaring the allegations without merit. Said Activision: "Gibson’s lawsuit is a transparent end run around an impartial court that Activision asked on March 11 to rule on patent assertions that Gibson knows have no merit. Our Guitar Hero retailing partners have done nothing wrong. We will confront this and any other efforts by Gibson to wrongfully interfere with Activision's relationship with its customers and its consumers." Despite entering into a licensing agreement with Activision to replicate Gibson's guitar designs for Guitar Hero III, Gibson is alleging that Activision violated one of its patents, which governs "technology used to simulate a musical performance." Activision has responded by filing a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate Gibson's claims for damages. Concluded Activision's statement: "As Activision noted in its filing, Gibson waited three years to make its patent allegations, and only did so after it became clear that Activision was not interested in renewing its marketing and support agreement with Gibson. Activision continues to believe that Gibson’s claims are disingenuous and lack any justification."