Activision Responds to Gibson Suit

Activision, beleaguered of late with Guitar Hero related lawsuits, went on the offensive today responding to claims by Gibson that Guitar Hero infringes on a nine year old patent for technology to simulate a musical performance.

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.

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.

Ouch, there’s nothing worse than a jilted guitar manufacturer.