Gibson’s Pursuit Of Excellence: Patently Absurd
Gibson, the corporate disintegrator of the Dobro™ brand, is now in partaking in another noble endeavor.
The games in question, both musical performance simulations, have enjoyed tremendous success in the last few years. For some reason, the G-men feel entitled to a portion of this success based on a claim of patent violation. Harmonix, creator of Guitar Hero and Rock Band offered this statement in their defense:
This lawsuit is completely without merit and we intend to defend it vigorously.
Gibson’s patent, filed nearly 10 years ago, required a 3D display, a real musical instrument and a recording of a concert. Rock Band and Guitar Hero are completely different: among other things they are games, require no headset and use a controller only shaped like a real instrument. It is unfortunate that Gibson unfairly desires to share in the tremendous success enjoyed by the developers of Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
I’m not certain of what precedence would empower them to do so, but not only have they filed suit against Activision and Harmonix, they have also taken the additional measure of going after retailers selling the games. Classy.
In a humorous, yet admittedly distant way, this reminds me of this sarcastic episode of patent law absurdity.
I don’t acknowledge the word “greed” as one that merits legitimate status as an active word in my thoughts or discourse, but what Gibson looks to be doing in this case is the closest portrayal in principle of what could be an objective meaning to the term. Attempting to profit by means of a legitimate instrument, but invoking that instrument through the use of evasive, or possibly even dishonest premises, is a vile assault on reality. Maybe fraud is still the most applicable term.
My interest in Gibson stems from their involvement in the resophonic guitar market, of which I am also an active member. In 1993, they acquired the originating entity which pioneered the instrument. Also, well within their rights to do so, they assumed ownership of the trade name associated with the resophonic/resonator guitar. As a newcomer, they could’ve embraced the market at very little cost, paid just a little attention to detail and competency, and they could easily be one of, if not the, major player in a market that’s just about ready to burst into the realm of economies of scale. Instead of offering instruments that are well constructed, aesthetically pleasing and thorough performers, they attempted to get by on overpriced instruments which are sloppy in construction, cosmetics and setup. Instead of embracing the growing community (and its accompanying profits) they, in effect, scorned the market by snooty insistence regarding the use of the word, and betraying the legacy of the Dopyera’s (the inventors) by smearing the traditional Dobro™ logo with Gibson’s own brand.
Again, well within their rights, but incredibly stupid tactics.
The best we can hope for is that they wrangle their way into bankruptcy, and the brand we love could find its way into able hands who prefer to earn revenue by offering value and innovation for its customers - as opposed to incompetent coasting on an established brand of the past, or specious legal action based on questionable grounds.
