Cosmonaut X
Member
Aaron Strife said:
Uhhh...
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Uhhh...
This is a brilliant story that will just run and run. The people he's sued and collected licence money from with his forged evidence will likely ruin him with lawsuits.
And coincidentally, the police really, really don't like people forging evidence submitted to the TPO. What he did was nothing short of extortion.
So, yeah. At best (for him) he'll be penniless, at worst he'll be penniless AND end up in prison.
It's days like these when I just fucking love the Internet.
And coincidentally, the police really, really don't like people forging evidence submitted to the TPO. What he did was nothing short of extortion.
So, yeah. At best (for him) he'll be penniless, at worst he'll be penniless AND end up in prison.
It's days like these when I just fucking love the Internet.
Yasae said:
So it is. But note the numerous classes he has his trademarks registered in - things like comic books, mugs, etc. He can only contest registrations in those classes, which Mobigame's EDGE, Mirror's Edge etc. all fall into - of course he's got the computer games class registered.
Langdell's defence of his trademark is perfectly legal - indeed, if he didn't protect it he'd lose it under US law. The reasons why everyone was butthurt at first were:
i) No-one's ever heard of him and he hasn't released a game in years
ii) He was sticking it to an indie developer with a genuinely decent game
What he did was perfectly within his rights as the holder of the EDGE trademark in relation to games. Of course, it's turned out that his registrations are based on fabricated evidence, that he's a vexatious litigant and just downright unpleasant to deal with - but if he'd been legit he'd have been acting in the appropriate way.
I don't think anyone's disputed that. But he does hold the EDGE trademark in a variety of classes in the US and I THINK the Community (Europe), hence why he is able to contest these various registrations.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Yeah, this is kind of the issue. Langdell is definitely taking advantage of trademark law to the maximum, but shitheads like him are symptoms, not the cause, of the real problem. US trademark, patent, copyright, fuck, the entire goddam legal system needs a re-write.BluWacky said:
Cosmo Clock 21
Banned
What does this mean?Yasae said:
FunnyBunny
Member
I just finished reading the Wordpress breakdown of Langdell, the trademark issues and business practices.
It made me feel dirty. Hell, I'll make a donation to EA's legal fund if it will help put that guy out of business.
It made me feel dirty. Hell, I'll make a donation to EA's legal fund if it will help put that guy out of business.
FunnyBunny
Member
Cosmo Clock 21 said:
I think it means the trademark for Mirrors Edge is dead.
Saint of Killers
Member
I hope they leave him gaping.
But this is exactly the point. If an apostrophe is enough for Langdell to get away, then the basis for most of his threats is nullified.OgTheClever said:
Anyway, it's quite obvious this guy has mental problems. Sociopath, psychopath, or something like that.
I briefly worked with someone like that: very well-networked, seemingly resourceful at first, but upon investigation it turns out they don't do anything concrete. And blatant and constant lying with a straight face with great disregard for the outcome.
charlequin
Banned
Quick crash course because the misuse in this thread is making me crazy:
The EDGE issue involves trademarks. It is indicative of the general sickness of America's IP and legal systems -- it is almost always better for a company to pay off spurious lawsuits than to fight them, and difficult to accurately prove one's legitimate case in a trademark dispute which makes settling even more attractive, so Tim Langdell has derived the totality of his company's income for years solely off of illicit trademark extortion.
- Patents are legal protection of inventions and innovations in process. They cover things like new kinds of lightbulbs, microwave ovens, car motors, etc. (They also, more controversially, cover things like individual isolated genes.) They are granted for 7 years, can be renewed once, prevent all competitors from using your invention, and are not lost through insufficient defense.
- Copyright is legal protection of creative works. It is automatically granted to all such works at the moment of creation. It lasts the creator's lifetime plus seventy years. It isn't lost if you don't protect it.
- Trademarks are legal protection of names, logos, and other branding. They can be used without registration, and last while legitimately in use. They apply only to areas in which they are being used; they are stronger if they're made up words than if they're real words, and if they're non-descriptive words instead of describing what the product is; they legally must be defended or they are taken away.
The EDGE issue involves trademarks. It is indicative of the general sickness of America's IP and legal systems -- it is almost always better for a company to pay off spurious lawsuits than to fight them, and difficult to accurately prove one's legitimate case in a trademark dispute which makes settling even more attractive, so Tim Langdell has derived the totality of his company's income for years solely off of illicit trademark extortion.
Here's the 10 peso version:
Outside of simply wanting money because of use of the name "Edge" (a common single word in the english language with many different uses), Tim Langdell is claiming that the Iphone Edge game is in fact stealing from one of Langdell's company's own game called Bobby bearing. He claims that it is because of it's use of a simple geometric object navigating an isometric perspective game, that in fact, the idea was stolen.
"Edge" 2009
"Bobby bearing" 1986
and just for shits and giggles,
"Marble Madness" 1984
But really, everyone should browse through this
http://chaosedge.wordpress.com/
my favorite snippet:
I would like to make comment regarding Tim Langdell, who I worked for and created around 6 games for Softek International AKA The Edge back in my earlier years. This is not really news to me or most of the staff working for The Edge/Softek/ACE/RAD/Mico Selection at the time, it was a regular thing that he in fact took people to court, did not pay wages and generally ripped everyone off including his distributors.
On one occasion he came into the office all gleaming like turns out he did not pay Rodney Matthews who at the time redesigned our Edge logo which Tim boasted and took pride in this.
There was even an incident at a computer show when we were ordered to march over to a computer magazine stall and remove all the magazines because they wrote some comment Tim did not like and he was removed from the stall be security.
The list is endless, there was a law suit over the rights to the A-Team of which the game had already been started I think Ocean Software was the other party, other games included X-men which I worked on an early version for the Atari-ST I think there was a huge row with Marvel and they ultimately ended the contract and working relationship with him of which childish tantrums were displayed in the office.
Everyone at the time in the UK games industry knew of how he did business which ultimately lead to the demise of The Edge, ACE and all the other labels he created as nobody with experience would work for him. As far as the amount of games, Softek International only published around 20-30 games from all its labels including the re-releasing over and over again on new labels like Micro Selection etc.. Its a real shame as the people who worked there were great and went on to create great games for decent publishers and get paid. I for one still keep in touch with them and this is a really interesting thing to happen as this has been going on for decades.
Outside of simply wanting money because of use of the name "Edge" (a common single word in the english language with many different uses), Tim Langdell is claiming that the Iphone Edge game is in fact stealing from one of Langdell's company's own game called Bobby bearing. He claims that it is because of it's use of a simple geometric object navigating an isometric perspective game, that in fact, the idea was stolen.
"Edge" 2009
"Bobby bearing" 1986
and just for shits and giggles,
"Marble Madness" 1984
But really, everyone should browse through this
http://chaosedge.wordpress.com/
my favorite snippet:
I would like to make comment regarding Tim Langdell, who I worked for and created around 6 games for Softek International AKA The Edge back in my earlier years. This is not really news to me or most of the staff working for The Edge/Softek/ACE/RAD/Mico Selection at the time, it was a regular thing that he in fact took people to court, did not pay wages and generally ripped everyone off including his distributors.
On one occasion he came into the office all gleaming like turns out he did not pay Rodney Matthews who at the time redesigned our Edge logo which Tim boasted and took pride in this.
There was even an incident at a computer show when we were ordered to march over to a computer magazine stall and remove all the magazines because they wrote some comment Tim did not like and he was removed from the stall be security.
The list is endless, there was a law suit over the rights to the A-Team of which the game had already been started I think Ocean Software was the other party, other games included X-men which I worked on an early version for the Atari-ST I think there was a huge row with Marvel and they ultimately ended the contract and working relationship with him of which childish tantrums were displayed in the office.
Everyone at the time in the UK games industry knew of how he did business which ultimately lead to the demise of The Edge, ACE and all the other labels he created as nobody with experience would work for him. As far as the amount of games, Softek International only published around 20-30 games from all its labels including the re-releasing over and over again on new labels like Micro Selection etc.. Its a real shame as the people who worked there were great and went on to create great games for decent publishers and get paid. I for one still keep in touch with them and this is a really interesting thing to happen as this has been going on for decades.
Cosmo Clock 21 said:
More than half of the Fortune 500 is incorporated in Delaware. You don't need to be a resident of Delaware, cheap incorporation fees, businesses outside Delaware don't pay Delaware corporate taxes, and Delaware has a separate court system for coporate law so that these cases don't have to appear before juries.
So basically, every company wants to be based out of Delaware and they don't even need to be in Delaware to do it.
DigitalDevil
Member
Keyser Soze said:
what a DOUCHE
ACESandEIGHTS
Member
When I read the snippet about him collecting on trademark settlements, I thought "nothing new in the US, same old schtick: making a living off of lawsuits."
Then I read about his other stuff -- stiffing people after services rendered, refusing to pay wages, etc. etc. and that's when I stopped liking him. I have a serious problem with people that don't settle up. If you get rich, you get rich with your partners. If the company goes broke, you go broke along with everyone else. Anyone who plays it any other way is a loser and deserves whatever he gets. Hopefully EA will bankrupt him.
Then I read about his other stuff -- stiffing people after services rendered, refusing to pay wages, etc. etc. and that's when I stopped liking him. I have a serious problem with people that don't settle up. If you get rich, you get rich with your partners. If the company goes broke, you go broke along with everyone else. Anyone who plays it any other way is a loser and deserves whatever he gets. Hopefully EA will bankrupt him.
grandjedi6
Master of the Google Search
My favorite part of this is that Langdell is claiming to have released a game called "Racers" 3 weeks ago. Anyone ever see this alleged game anywhere? :lol
You probably can trademark a phrase.
The point of trademark is to prevent other companies from using your trademark in such a way as to gain benefits by misrepresenting yourself in the guise of something else.
For example, "Apple" is a very common word. You don't expect other companies to be able to put Apple (nor their logo) on similar products.
So trademarks are a sound idea. It's just that Tim Langdell is abusing his trademarks. In some of the cases, he may right, but in others it's entirely obvious that the products won't get mistaken, seeing as his company is essentially non-existent any more in regards to modern products. He then makes a copy of whatever comes out to serve as an example that confusion CAN be caused, with evidence based on people linking to him. It's completely circular and moronic.
The point of trademark is to prevent other companies from using your trademark in such a way as to gain benefits by misrepresenting yourself in the guise of something else.
For example, "Apple" is a very common word. You don't expect other companies to be able to put Apple (nor their logo) on similar products.
So trademarks are a sound idea. It's just that Tim Langdell is abusing his trademarks. In some of the cases, he may right, but in others it's entirely obvious that the products won't get mistaken, seeing as his company is essentially non-existent any more in regards to modern products. He then makes a copy of whatever comes out to serve as an example that confusion CAN be caused, with evidence based on people linking to him. It's completely circular and moronic.
You're gonna love this:grandjedi6 said:
http://chaosedge.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/hedge-your-bets/
:lol :lol :lol
I would LOVE to see IGN put up a mock-review of RACERS with a bad score to see what would happen. :lol
grandjedi6
Master of the Google Search
Langdell would just end up using it as evidence that his games existchubigans said:
Eteric Rice
Member
Guy is a bigger troll than Kanye West.
BobTheFork
Member
Ok, that shit is hilarious. The store, the order numbers, the "sell out" all gold.chubigans said:
demigod
Member
When I first saw the picture of Bobby Bearing, I thought of Marble Madness. And here I thought Bobby Bearing came out first, but it didn't. I love how he claims the game Edge was a ripoff of Bobby Bearing when in fact Bobby Bearing looks exactly like Marble Madness. I'm surprised Atari didn't sue his company.
Blast Processing
Member
kaizoku said:so ridiculous.
Aha, but he forgot to register Gamer's Edge, the dumb son of a bitch!
fuck, it's in the fine print
charlequin
Banned
ixix said:
Excellent point!
rainking187
Member
chubigans said:
Wow, what the fuck man. I hope EA wins.
DigitalDevil said:
Worse than that - go to Edge of Twilight's website and read the fine print at the bottom.
You'll notice: "EDGE is a registered trademark of Edge Games, Inc. Used under license."
Edge of Twilight is paying Langdell money to use the word Edge in order to avoid the cost and delays that a bullshit lawsuit would bring. They'd win with even a mediocre lawyer, but the cost of fighting him and the potential time wasted in court instead of selling the game makes it literally a cheaper solution to give the sleezebag cockfuck exactly what he wants. Especially in games, where if you're not cutting edge there's no way your game will sell; we have a retarded system where titles live and die on hype and technology. Langdell's just taking advantage of this time sensitivity to his own ends.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
mrkgoo said:
"Where do you want to go today?" came to mind.
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