IGDA responds to Edge trademark furore

The IGDA (International Game Developers Association) has become embroiled in a row over board member Tim Langdell's actions around trademark usage.

Critically-acclaimed iPhone game Edge has been removed from Apple's App Store in the US and UK, with developer Mobigame confirming to website FingerGaming that it was due to "legal issues with a man named Tim Langdell".

Langdell's company owns the worldwide trademark to the word "Edge" and has apparently successfully upheld its usage in Namco title Soul Edge/Blade, as well as Edge magazine, Anthony Hopkins movie The Edge and many other properties in various media.

According to Mobigame's David Papazian, Edge is still available on the European App Store and the developer is currently "in talks" with Langdell.

The IGDA response to the issue appears on the non-profit organisation's website and states: "The IGDA cannot take a position in what is actually a legal dispute between two companies regarding an alleged trademark infringement. Whether or not a company has behaved lawfully is a matter for the courts to decide, not the IGDA board."

Writing on his own blog though, fellow IGDA board member Tom Buscaglia defended Langdell, saying: "While you or I may not agree with those laws related to trademarks, they are what they are. Moreover, the IGDA represents the individuals who make games, not the companies that make them … In any case, I do not see how Tim L vigorously enforcing his legal rights as contrary to the code of ethics in any way."