Hot News

Blizzard files opposition to Valve's Dota trademark 90 3days 19hrs ago
New Double Fine adventure game funded by fans; Psychonauts 2 talks underway 84 5days 7hrs ago
Double Fine raises more than $1 million, promises 'better' game 47 4days 4hrs ago
Report: Unreal Engine 4 to be revealed in 2012 43 4days 0hrs ago
Unreal 'Samaritan' demo requires ten times Xbox 360's processing power 38 1day 4hrs ago
Jersey Shore's 'The Situation' signs App deal 36 20hrs 10mins ago
Skyrim dragon mounts made in Bethesda 'game jam' experiments 35 5days 5hrs ago
Steam knocked offline on Sunday by power failure 35 1day 6hrs ago
Demon's Souls 'underestimated' by Sony 33 3days 20hrs ago
Battleship game is a naval strategy FPS 29 6days 6hrs ago

Latest News

View All

Konami Sues Harmonix/MTV over Alleged Patent Violations, Attempts to Block the Sale of Rock Band

by Nick Breckon, Jul 10, 2008 8:45pm PDT

Related Topics – Rock Band, Top Spin 3, Rock Revolution, Harmonix, lawsuit, Konami

DrumMania and Guitar Freaks publisher Konami today filed suit against Harmonix parent company Viacom over patent violations related to Harmonix's rhythm title Rock Band.

Konami claims that the company's patent for a "musical-rhythm matching game," filed in the United States circa 1999, predates and supersedes Harmonix's 2007 patent filing for a "game controller simulating a musical instrument."

According to Bloomberg, Konami seeks cash compensation and an order to block the use of Harmonix's inventions. Viacom is waiting to receive the complaint before responding to the allegations.

Konami released the Japanese rhythm arcade games DrumMania and Guitar Freaks in 1999, with Guitar Freaks being initially ported to the United States later that year. The company is now planning to release its own Rock Band-style game titled Rock Revolution.

Read all the News

« Previous Story
New Rock Band 2 Songs and Details Arrive: RATM, Steve Miller Band, Bon Jovi, Billy Idol, More

Next Story »
Activision Blizzard Planning iTunes-like Music Store Built on Guitar Hero Brand

Comments

12 Threads | 33 Comments

#33

Refresh Thread

By: JimRune x Show Full Post

Reply

I hope Konami isn't planning to recoup their development costs from "Rock Revolution" using the "cash money" they win from this lawsuit, because it's not going to happen.

Jul 11, 2008 1:33pm PDT

I hope Konami isn't planning to recoup their development costs from "Rock Revolution" using the "cash mon... : JimRune

#14

Refresh Thread

By: Sageous x Show Full Post

Reply

Musical rhythm matching game? I think Matsuura-san covered that first. I don't remember what year parappa the rapper came out, but I feel like I remember playing it prior to 1999.

Jul 11, 2008 12:46am PDT

toggle
Musical rhythm matching game? I think Matsuura-san covered that first. I don't remember what year parappa... : Sageous
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
- Parappa was released in 1996 in Japan, and I can't think of a strictly entertainment title prior to Parap... : Crastabule

#30

Refresh Thread

By: nudel x Show Full Post

Reply

Isn't Simon Says prior art with all of this bullshit? Or the "learn to type" programs that date back to the C64? Or MIDI instruments (coupled with "learn the play" software if that's part of the patent)?

I don't see how anything anything either company has done could possibly be considered novel enough to get a patent.

Jul 11, 2008 9:00am PDT

toggle
Isn't Simon Says prior art with all of this bullshit? Or the "learn to type" programs that date back to t... : nudel
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
- Absolutely agree, patents has gone too far, and software patents are even more a joke.. : Garfferen

#23

Refresh Thread

By: ramshot x Show Full Post

Reply

Meh, the whole patent system is just such bullshit. Sick and tired of news like these. Big companies fighting over mountains of cash and what gets caught in the crossfire are things like progress (of the genre/concept) and money that could and should have been put into development of these games.

Just doesn't fit into my mind how anyone can claim "musical-rhythm matching game" is something they own and no-one else can use. It's just bullshit, and nothing but.

Jul 11, 2008 3:55am PDT

toggle
Meh, the whole patent system is just such bullshit. Sick and tired of news like these. Big companies figh... : ramshot
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
- Unfortunately the corporate fighting is just the tip of the iceberg, What often is going on are big compa... : billy_zelsnack

#10

Refresh Thread

By: Modica Sol Solis x Show Full Post

Reply

Konami always pulls this shit. They need to stop complaining that Harmonix has thoroughly thrashed them.

Jul 10, 2008 10:20pm PDT

toggle
Konami always pulls this shit. They need to stop complaining that Harmonix has thoroughly thrashed them. : Modica Sol Solis
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
- toggle
  they only tharsh them in parts of the united states and only on console but most majority in the world p... : korean411
  - Most majority in the world? Do you have any idea how popular Guitar Hero/Rock Band is? : jayacheess

#25

Refresh Thread

By: Azure013 x Show Full Post

Reply

I'm just baffled you can patent something like "musical-rhythm matching game".

Can you really do this? If id Software had patented "gun-shooting game from a first-person perspective" back in the day, could they really have killed any rival FPS at a whim?

Jul 11, 2008 4:41am PDT

toggle
I'm just baffled you can patent something like "musical-rhythm matching game". Can you really do this?... : Azure013
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
- It's pretty strange, to be sure. Should someone have been able to patent gun peripherals, or steering whe... : jayacheess

#17

Refresh Thread

By: CoRDS x Show Full Post

Reply

Good.

i hope they win.

they get what they deserve for not selling rockband in Australia

fuck those assholes at mtv/harmonix etc

Jul 11, 2008 1:11am PDT

toggle
Good. i hope they win. they get what they deserve for not selling rockband in Australia fuck tho... : CoRDS
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
- I'm glad you posted this drivel in multiple chatties. Good job. : taronish
- toggle
  Yeah, they're totally against making more money! It totally has nothing to do with licensing issues with ... : Prozium
  - Don't bring logic into this! : Arceihn

#24

Refresh Thread

By: Salad Sammich x Show Full Post

Reply

As if people will actually BUY their piece of shit if they ever won and blocked Rock Band. This is a no-win for them.

Jul 11, 2008 4:31am PDT

As if people will actually BUY their piece of shit if they ever won and blocked Rock Band. This is a no-... : Salad Sammich

#21

Refresh Thread

By: usedillusion x Show Full Post

Reply

Im going to patent having a patent and then im going to sue everybody.

Jul 11, 2008 3:03am PDT

Im going to patent having a patent and then im going to sue everybody. : usedillusion

#2

Refresh Thread

By: pigvomit x Show Full Post

Reply

Ugh....It's been what? 3 years and now they finally think it's something to sue over? sheesh.

I guess if they play it that way, someone tell James Cameron that he should sue Konami for aping imagery of Kyle Reese from The Terminator in MGS4.

Jul 10, 2008 8:55pm PDT

toggle
Ugh....It's been what? 3 years and now they finally think it's something to sue over? sheesh. I guess... : pigvomit
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 10 replies.

#1

Refresh Thread

By: dedgecko x Show Full Post

Reply

Fuck patent-sitters. Challenge it within a month, or at least notify the press/courts/whomever within a month or GTFO.

Jul 10, 2008 8:53pm PDT

toggle
Fuck patent-sitters. Challenge it within a month, or at least notify the press/courts/whomever within a ... : dedgecko
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.

#7

Refresh Thread

By: DarkWolf5 x Show Full Post

Reply

I guess MGS4 didn't sell too well?

Jul 10, 2008 9:41pm PDT

I guess MGS4 didn't sell too well? : DarkWolf5

red	r{...}r	italics	/[...]/
green	g{...}g	bold	b[...]b
blue	b{...}b	quote	q[...]q
yellow	y{...}y	sample	s[...]s
limegreen	l[...]l	underline	_[...]_
orange	n[...]n	strike	-[...]-
multisync	p[...]p	spoiler	o[...]o
olive	e[...]e	code	/{{...}}/

Hot News

Latest News

Konami Sues Harmonix/MTV over Alleged Patent Violations, Attempts to Block the Sale of Rock Band

More Rock Revolution

News

Rock Revolution

Videos

Screenshots

Comments