A U.S. District Court Judge last week ordered controversial "Edge" trademark holder Tim Langdell to notify all licensees that Edge Games-related U.S. trademarks are no longer valid.
Following a rejection of a preliminary injunction in favor of Langdell, the judge said that Edge Games must submit a sworn declaration to the court by noon this Friday that states all licensees have been notified of the trademark cancellations. EA and Edge Games are to cover their respective legal fees.
"[Edge Games] shall notify all persons and entities with whom a licensing agreement has been obtained involving the trademarks asserted herein that the marks have been cancelled and provide these persons and entities with a copy of the order denying [Edge Games'] motion for a preliminary injunction and the final judgment," wrote Judge William Alsup in an October 8 court filing obtained by Gamasutra.
Edge Games had been the holder of the U.S. trademarks "Edge," "Cutting Edge," "Gamers Edge" and "The Edge." Langdell became known for challenging individuals and companies that used any of the words or phrases in their products.
Langdell had filed suit earlier this year against major game publisher Electronic Arts for using the word "Edge" in the EA DICE-developed first-person shooter Mirror's Edge from 2008. The suit followed EA's September 2009 petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel Langdell's trademarks.
In a separate recent court filing in which lawyers proposed a final judgment stripping Edge Games of the marks, Judge Alsup stated, "The record contains numerous items of evidence that plaintiff wilfully committed fraud against the USPTO in obtaining and/or maintaining registrations for many of the asserted 'EDGE' marks, possibly warranting criminal penalties if the misrepresentations prove true."
EA told Gamasutra last week, "We’re pleased that we’ve reached a settlement and can put this behind us. This settlement goes a long way in protecting the rights of independent developers."
Does this have implications over the compensation he has received over the years by entities using the "Edge" name? Thats a round about way of saying he may have to pay them back.
I think those would have to be taken care of in another lawsuit. This only cancels the trademark, which means that any licensees he may have no longer have to pay him to use Edge.
I think that now they should sue Timmy to death, after he stole their logo (I mean, there was a name conflict, no problem, but stealing Edge magazine logo and then suing them was low...)
Normally he wouldn't be required to pay anything back since 'Edge' was an enforceable TM prior to the ruling, but since the judge also ruled fraud was committed when those past contracts were written, it's likely gonna be open season.
I still am surprised it took so long to work to this point. The similar rulings against TSR have to be going on 25-30 years now. And courts like nothing more than past precedence to 'speed' the process up.
Well, the judge doesn't seem to go quite so far as to accuse Tim of fraud, but he does observe that there is evidence to that effect. I suspect that is enough to start an investigation to establish whether fraud has occurred. If Tim were later convicted of fraud, it would be open season on him.
I still am surprised it took so long to work to this point. The similar rulings against TSR have to be going on 25-30 years now. And courts like nothing more than past precedence to 'speed' the process up.
:D