http://www.gamespot.com/news/6187653.html?
Last year, Activision discovered that its $100 million purchase of RedOctane in 2006 had paid off in spades, with the publisher touting the fact that the Guitar Hero franchise had shifted 14 million-plus units in North America alone and aggregated revenue of more than $1 billion in the process. A mountain of cash that high doesn't go without notice, however, and the publisher has been fending off lawsuits concerning the franchise seemingly around every corner.

In the second suit concerning Guitar Hero to surface for the week, longtime RedOctane partner Gibson Guitar Inc. has filed suit against Activision claiming patent infringement, reports Reuters. In a letter sent to Activision in January, Gibson claims Guitar Hero infringes on one of its patents granted in 1999 for "technology for simulating a musical performance." The patent, a copy of which was included in Gibson's court filing, details a method for using instruments to simulate a live performance, and provides for a 3D headset with stereo speakers and a prerecorded concert.

Gibson has licensed the use of its guitars as controllers and in-game items for Guitar Hero since the first installment in the franchise debuted in 2005. Most recently, Activision licensed nine different Gibson guitars to appear in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, as well as modeled its controller after the company's popular Les Paul. According to the letter sent to Activision, Reuters reports that Gibson is requesting that the publisher "obtain a license under Gibson's...patent or halt sales of any version of the 'Guitar Hero' game software."

Unsurprisingly, Reuters reports that Activision has asked the US District Court of Central California to invalidate Gibson's patent and prevent the guitar maker from seeking damages. In a statement issued to GameSpot, Activision general counsel George Rose said, "Gibson is a good partner, and we have a great deal of respect for them. We disagree with the applicability of their patent and would like a legal determination on this." Reuters also noted that even were the patent upheld, Gibson's three-year dalliance has granted Activision an implied license for the use of the technology.
You GOT to be kidding me on that patent

I think I will go out and patent "technology for simulating EVERTHING"

Uh huh... So... the patent wasn't active when Guitar Hero was originally released? Why start suing now? Why not also sue EA/Harmonix for Rock Band? Doesn't make sense.

http://www.iptrademarkattorney.com/2009/03/guitar-hero-court-does-not-infringe-gibson-guitar-patent-activision-los-angeles-district-court.html
Los Angeles, CA – Last year, after being threatened with infringement of Gibson Guitar’s U.S. Patent No. 5,990,405 (“the ‘405 Patent”), Activision, the maker of the popular video game “Guitar Hero,” filed a declaratory judgment complaint of non-infringement . After two rounds of claim construction briefing, a technology tutorial, and a Markman hearing – in addition to Gibson’s counsel withdrawing from the case, the Court granted Activision’s summary judgment of non-infringement.

It did not bode well for Gibson merely reading the Court’s introductory statement: “As a general observation, no reasonable person of ordinary skill in the relevant arts would interpret the ‘405 Patent as covering interactive video games.” The ‘405 Patent generally covers playback of prerecorded music by playing back the “musical sounds” of an “actual musical instrument,” and once the musician has mastered a particular song, the ‘405 Patent’s system is no longer necessary.

The Court quickly dismissed Gibson’s contention that the sound made by the Guitar Hero controller was potentially musical because Gibson’s interpretation would extend coverage to a “button of a DVD remote…to a pencil tapping a table.” Gibson conceded that the guitar controller did not produce “musical sounds,” but argued that the drum set did in fact produce “musical sounds.” The Court, however, concluded that musical sounds must have more definite characteristics than a thud produced from striking a piece of rubber or plastic. Indeed, Gibson’s own expert testified that musical sounds have articulable characteristics, e.g. “timbre” and “pitch.”

A further limitation of the patent is the output of an instrument audio signal that is representative of the sounds the musical instrument makes or is capable of making. “Gibson’s own expert admits that the signals from a Guitar Hero controller—on their own—do not represent the pitch, timbre, or any other articulable characteristic of the sound made by the controller.” Further, “the ‘405 Patent itself disavows systems that either (1) do not involve ‘actual operation of a musical instrument’ or (2) use virtual reality-type control devices.” And the Court found that the Guitar Hero controllers fall within both disavowed categories. The most painful part of the ruling was the finding that “Gibson’s doctrine of equivalents arguments border on the frivolous”
Now that's a smart court :worship:

There goes their case against Rock Band as well
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=2271&t=778281

A smart court indeed.

Next up, Gibson sues schoolchildren for drumming on desks during class.

An estimated $1M in damages in sought from each offending child.

Gotta love how gibson's own experts killed the case.