Final Langdell judgement issued
Edge Games ordered to notify bullied developers that it no longer holds trademarks
Litigious Edge Games owner Tim Langdell was on Friday officially stripped of his 'edge', 'cutting' and 'gamer's edge' trademarks by a US judge, following an earlier agreement between his and EA's attorneys.
Judge William Alsup has now signed off the final judgement, which also states that each party will cover its own court costs, and that EA will receive no damages from Langdell for his denied attempt to block further use of the name 'Mirror's Edge.'
However, the judge added an additional stipulation that the disgraced former IGDA board member must inform all those firms he has brought action against in the past that he no longer holds the various edge trademarks.
Reads the ruling, "Plaintiff 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 plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction and the final judgment."
The judge requires that Langdell or his representatives give a sworn statement that this has occurred by this Friday. It may lead to a series of reparation attempts from developers who suffered name-changes, costs and release delays as a result of Langdell's earlier threats of legal action.
EA looks to have moved on from the matter entirely now. "We're pleased that we've reached a settlement and can put this behind us," a spokesperson said in a statement.
"This settlement goes a long way in protecting the rights of independent developers."
Will his previous victims bother seeking reparations or have they got better things to do with their time?
Then there is the potential for criminal action over his trademark submissions.
So as it stands he is pretty much getting away with it.
But I don't think someone with Tim's history really gives a damn about public humiliation.
He is either so deluded about the truth that he wouldn't be able to internally process what has happened.
Or he is simply an evil cynic. In which case he wouldn't have any pride by definition.
Either way he needs to be taken to task over his deception, simply because the Trademark system is already enough of a mockery without law enforcement ignoring crimes perpetrated with the tacit assistance of the TM system.
The irony of EA claiming that they have protected "the rights of independent developers" is also not lost on me.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Stephen Northcott on 11th October 2010 10:40am
And, yes, that's some rich, creamy irony right there.
While it would be satisfying to see some of the smaller devs he harassed try to get theirs back from him, I don't think they should waste their time and resources.
I guess maybe its ok to put Killer Edge Racing back on the App Store?
i can only hope he gets taken up on a criminal charge
He did a fantastic job with their website after all. :P
But seriously, if anyone would like a friendly legal word about what the lawsuit could mean for their games, especially if they previously had difficulty with 'Edge' type games titles, please do drop me a message.
Jas
lmao!!! Well, you could go out and make fun of Windows Phone 7 :)
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Derek Smart on 11th October 2010 6:01pm
Consider this a lesson!