Gibson settles Rock Band infringement case
Guitar-maker and EA/Viacom reach private agreement about music game peripherals
Instrument manufacturer Gibson has dropped its patent infringement case against Electronic Arts, Viacom and retailers including Amazon and Wal-Mart, following an undisclosed private settlement.
The claim, brought to bear in 2008, asserted violation of Gibson’s 1999 "System and method for generating and controlling a simulated musical concert experience" patent. Gibson settled a similar claim against Activision Blizzard and its Guitar Hero series last year.
Terms of either agreement have not been disclosed. In the EA/Viacom case, both parties say "that they had reached a full settlement" and are seeking dismissal of the case by June 14.
Whatever the settlement payout may have been, it comes at a difficult time for Viacom, owner of MTV Games and Rock Band developer Harmonix. During a slump for the entire music games genre, it suffered a 22 per cent decline in Rock Band sales during Q1 of this year.
Despite this, Rock Band 3 will be released later this year, with EA once again acting as distributor and third-party accessory manufacturer Mad Catz providing the instruments.