Gibson Sues Harmonix Over Patent Infringement

Today on Reuters it was announced that Gibson, a prominent guitar company, is planning to sue Harmonix, the makers of Guitar Hero 1 and 2 along with Rock Band, over patent infringement. Gibson claims it violates a 1999 patent they filed for a "technology to simulate a musical performance." Activision, makers of Guitar Hero 3, have made a preemptive strike against Gibson's patent so they themselves are not affected. Harmonix believes the lawsuit is bunk and intends to fight it for all they're worth.

So in this future trial, we have two sides. In one corner, we have Gibson. Assuming they were right, then they would be hurt by Guitar Hero. In the other hand, we have Harmonix, who if they were right, would be unfairly hurt by Gibson. It does not seem likely that losing an expensive lawsuit would hurt either company very much, as Gibson is an industry giant and Harmonix has partnered with MTV.

Personally, I think Harmonix is in the right for this one. Why haven't I heard about Gibson releasing their "technology to simulate a musical performance"? Also, this lawsuit reeks of someone trying to make a quick buck off of someone else's success. There was a similar story with the Wii when a man claimed he invented the positioning system in the Wiimote first.

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