Activision has now settled the suit they filed earlier this year against their former employees for having "improperly used their knowledge of the publisher's hit rhythm games to develop and shop around a demo for a competing game."

Guitar Hero II executive producer John Tam, brand manager Corey Fong and former RedOctane hardware group member Jamie Yang were the named defendants, along with Reverb Communications and The Ant Commandos.

Reportedly, Tam, Fong and Yang quit their positions to put up their own studio, Lodestone Entertainment, and created a demo for a game that had in it certain elements from Activision's Guitar Hero and StepMania games. The said demo was used to solicit partners and funding for their newfound studio.

Activision had entered into a settlement with two of the defendants, Tam and Fong. Included in the settlement was a permanent injunction on Tam and Fong, thereby barring them from "distributing or using the demo in any capacity and acting on or disclosing any Activision trade secrets." Both Tam and Fong agreed to the said injunction.

As for the rest of the defendants, such a settlement is yet to be reached with Activision.

 

With the announcement of Guitar Hero (Wii, X360) for Wii the other day, one may simply posit that everything is doing quite well for the title. But sadly, that is not the case. If anything, things are getting ugly because of the dispute between its publisher and several developer. Again.

Here's the thing and we will try to make it simple for you: The Ant Commandos is a company that makes unlicensed guitar controllers for the said rhythm game. Activision doesn't like this and that is why it filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles last month. The lawsuit was also filed against three Guitar Hero developers as well as against PR firm Reverb Communications.

Why did Activision include the other ones? Let's talk about the PR firm first. Well, the action was prompted because of an earlier press release from Reverb Communications. Reverb mentioned that it is now providing services for Ant Commandos, and the Reverb's VP of Business Development just joined the Ant Commandos' board of directors.

Likewise, the three developers, namely Executive Producer John Tam, Brand Manager Corey Fong, and Hardware Group member Jamie Yang came up with a new company in conjunction with The Ant Commandos. In case you want to know, the new company is referred to as both Lodestone Entertainment and Hourglass Interactive. Activision wasn't pleased.

The lawsuit is over such matters as copyright infringement, trademark infringement, misappropriating trade secrets and confidential information, breach of contract, and interference with contractual relations.

As of now, the District Court of L.A. slapped a temporary restraining order against the developers that will prevent them from working further on Guitar Hero.

GamesIndustry reports that RedOctane, Activision, and peripherals manufacturer The Ant Commandos have settled that Guitar Hero lawsuit that was initiated in August last year.

If you guys remember, the suit accused The Ant Commandos of copyright infringement over Guitar Hero controllers. The peripherals manufacturer in turn counter-sued Activision and RedOctane claiming infringement of a controller modeled for Konami's Guitar Freaks game.

In a pretty anti-climactic er, development, the case has been officially dismissed by the courts after all companies reached an agreement and settled out of court. So far, neither company revealed the terms of the agreement.

Aw, I feel like a disappointed member of a mob... I was expecting bloodshed! And flying wangs!

Lawsuits bring nothing but trouble, so it's good that some companies fighting have stopped duking it out in the legal arena to have a spot of tea and some scones. This week, the companies chit-chatting  are RedOctane and The Ant Commandos, both members of the illustrious industry of videogame guitar heroics.

So what do these companies have to do with each other? Both of them make guitar controllers for the Guitar Hero series of games. RedOctane and Activision sent a suit to TAC for trademark infringements (on their PS2 guitar controller), while TAC decided to file a counter-suit alleging that RedOctane stole the guitar controller plans of TAC's parent company, which were used to make controllers for the earlier Guitar Freaks games.

Instead of starting a full-fledged court battle, however, the two companies asked the judge if they could talk it over first. RedOctane and The Ant Commandos are apparently trying to compromise. Their joint motion states, "The parties are currently negotiating a potential settlement of this matter and have a reasonable, good faith belief that settlement may be reached within the next seven to ten days." Whether that means we'll have a meeting of the minds, healthy competition, or one less company making guitar controllers, there's one thing you can be sure of.

"RedOctane and The Ant Commandos" sounds like a great name for a band.