Konami, Roxor Settle In The Groove Suit

Dance Dance Revolution creator Konami and Roxor Games, Inc., developer of similar rhythm/dance game In The Groove, have announced the settlement of their long-standing IP lawsuit, giving Konami full control of the In The Groove IP. The suit, filed in May of 2005, was specifically based on the fact that the arcade version of In The Groove can be retrofitted into Dance Dance Revolution arcade game, as well as issues involving trademark dilution and the placing of Roxor's logos over Konami's in the modified arcade machine. Konami commented at the time that "it will continue to take any legal measures necessary to protect Konami's intellectual property rights in DDR and other Konami products." According to a joint press release, Konami has acquired full intellectual property rights to the In The Groove franchise, and has explicitly stated that Roxor Games would "respect Konami’s intellectual property rights." Precisely what this means for the future of the In The Groove series, or the current sales of the RedOctane-published home version of the franchise is yet unclear. As reported at the time of the suit, Konami has previously pursued legal action against a number of other parties for Dance Dance Revolution-style games, but following the 2002 settlement of a suit with Korean developer Andamiro over Pump It Up!, took no action against Mastiff Games publishing a PS2 version of that franchise.