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Cutriss
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0.  Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:08 am Post subject: Roxor settlement officially accepted, RedOctane also settles |
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GameTechChris sends us word that Konami has announced a settlement with RedOctane in the matter of Konami v. Roxor et al. In reviewing the court documentation on the case, it was also learned that the proposed settlement mentioned last week with Roxor Games has been accepted by the court.
Below is the text of that settlement, though no mention of the intellectual property of In The Groove is made in the terms. No terms were made public in the settlement of RedOctane. Also worth noting is that the suit against MadCatz is still active. | Quote: | IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
MARSHALL DIVISION
KONAMI CORPORATION, )
Plaintiff )
)
v. ) No. 2:05ÂcvÂ00173ÂLED
)
ROXOR GAMES, INC., )
MAD CATZ, INC., and )
REDOCTANE, INC., )
Defendants. )
)
AGREED ORDER TO DISMISS WITH PREJUDICE
Before the Court is the Motion for Dismissal With Prejudice and the Stipulation of
Dismissal With Prejudice, in which the Defendant Roxor Games, Inc. admits and stipulates that
(i) U.S. Patent No. 6,410,835 is fully enforceable and there exists no ground or reason for any
unenforceability thereof; (ii) each and every of claims 11Â15, 17Â26, and 28Â51, inclusive (the
``Asserted Patent Claims'') of the patentÂinÂsuit is fully valid and there exists no ground or reason
for any invalidity thereof; and (iii) any direct or indirect making, producing, having made and
produced, importing, exporting, using, marketing, offering to sell and selling of the products of
Defendant Roxor Games, Inc. that are accused in this lawsuit infringes the Asserted Patent
Claims of the patentÂinÂsuit and that no defense exists regarding a claim or action of such
infringement. The Court, after reviewing the Motion and Stipulation, is of the opinion that the
Motion should be granted. It is therefore,
ORDERED that Defendant Roxor Games, Inc., and officers, agents, servants, employees,
and any person in active concert or participation with them, are hereby permanently enjoined
from, direct or indirectly, making, having made, importing, using, offering to sell or lease, and/or
selling or leasing, or assisting, causing, inducing, or agreeing with any other entity to make, have
Case 2:05ÂcvÂ00173ÂLEDÂJDL Document 132Â2 Filed 10/20/2006 Page 1
of2
made, import, use, offer to sell or lease, and/or sell or lease, any dance games and other rhythmic
games that use computer technology to infringe one or more of the Asserted Patent Claims,
specifically including, without limitation, the In The Groove(R) dance video game, including,
but not limited to, all generations of Roxor's In The Groove(R) arcade dance games, In The
Groove(R) home console dance games, and In The Groove(R) personal computer dance games.
FURTHER ORDERED that that all claims and counterclaims between Plaintiff Konami and
Defendant Roxor Games, Inc. are dismissed with prejudice to the refiling of the same, with all costs
and fees to be borne by the party incurring such costs and fees, and that Defendant Roxor Games,
Inc., having no further claims pending in the present case by or against it, is hereby dismissed from
this action.
Case 2:05ÂcvÂ00173ÂLEDÂJDL Document 132Â2 Filed 10/20/2006 Page 2
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Cutriss
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| 1. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:11 am Post subject: |
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Naturally, were Konami to work with Roxor on making a future In The Groove game, the permanent injunction would not apply.
Just so that the "ITG is dead!" crowd doesn't point to that text as being indicative of the series being dead for good.
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ICNH
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| 2. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:15 am Post subject: |
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Wait, so what does this mean in English? The case is 100% officially over?
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Loogaroo
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| 3. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:20 am Post subject: |
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Yep. "With prejudice" means that the case cannot be revisited for any reason.
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cfusionpm
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| 4. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:28 am Post subject: |
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despite all that fun legal phrasing, it seems pretty straightforward. oh well.
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good ole poster
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| 5. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:30 am Post subject: |
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| Why is there no mention of ITG? |
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cfusionpm
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| 6. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:32 am Post subject: |
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| Estoy Usando El Internet wrote: | | Why is there no mention of ITG? |
what??
| Quote: | | or agreeing with any other entity to make, have made, import, use, offer to sell or lease, and/or sell or lease, any dance games and other rhythmic games that use computer technology to infringe one or more of the Asserted Patent Claims, specifically including, without limitation, the In The Groove(R) dance video game, including, but not limited to, all generations of Roxor's In The Groove(R) arcade dance games, In The Groove(R) home console dance games, and In The Groove(R) personal computer dance games. |
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Wolfman Jake
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| 7. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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This is quite different information from what was reported by Roxor a week and a half ago. Are these two scenarios necessarily mutually exclusive? That is, can it be true that Konami now holds the intellectual property rights to ITG AND Roxor is officially enjoined against creating/producing/selling any and all ITG products past, present, and future?
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zeppy_gorrila
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damienkc
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| 9. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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copy+paste my post from AIJ
I just dont understand how a company can patent 4 arrow dancing games...like seriously, it's like patenting FPS games so no one else can make them. Jesus Christ it's not the same frick game. It can still have the same LOOK and be different. All FPS games have guns and poopy, why aren't people going sue crazy in that?
Honestly I've lost what little respect I had for Konami. The only reason I play IIDX is because it's all free. I'll never spend another dime on anything Konami related. And before people go blahblahblah it doesn't matter they're a 100 million dollar company you wont make a difference, probably so, but it's the spirit of it that counts. I'm not spending any more money on Konami because I don't want to, simple as that.
Pirating for life.
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Fil
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| 10. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Simple |
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Trexxen
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Location: Knoxville, TN |
| 11. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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...Well then. Let the storm of angry e-mails and requests for Konami to partner up with the old ITG team begin, or something.
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Obsessive
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| 12. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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| DamienKC wrote: | copy+paste my post from AIJ
I just dont understand how a company can patent 4 arrow dancing games...like seriously, it's like patenting FPS games so no one else can make them. Jesus Christ it's not the same frick game. It can still have the same LOOK and be different. All FPS games have guns and poopy, why aren't people going sue crazy in that?
Honestly I've lost what little respect I had for Konami. The only reason I play IIDX is because it's all free. I'll never spend another dime on anything Konami related. And before people go blahblahblah it doesn't matter they're a 100 million dollar company you wont make a difference, probably so, but it's the spirit of it that counts. I'm not spending any more money on Konami because I don't want to, simple as that.
Pirating for life. |
The DDR Cabinet itself is a completely unique and individual machine, of which there exists nothing else like it on earth. It is warranted that Konami would want a patent on such an interesting technology (the advent of arcade machines with floor pads, etc.) Also the format of DDR-the four cardinal directions being represented in such a way on the screen, the use of judgement in such a way, all of that was created by Konami and they have the right to defend it when another smaller company uses the template of a grey-area application (stepmania) and then directly hijacks the DDR cabinet (usually which is in the USA illegally in the first place) to play this other game FOR PROFIT. That's not fair at all.
Konami can Patent the 4-arrow cardinal-direction dancing game because it has been proven that the genre "dance game" uses many different formats, all unique to different companies. F2 has 8-panel, Andamiro has 5-panel, and Konami has 4-panel. Some other obscure Dance games have Arrows plus a hand simulator thing, and then you have that new game with the "piano-key" layout. Konami also has Para Para and Dance Maniax, etc. If Roxor wanted to make an individual game that did not break the lawsuit, they could make a 4-arrow game that uses the diagonals ONLY, or come up with a 6-arrow game (that doesn't rip of of SOLO2000), or something similar. So really, it's totally in line for Konami to patent and copyright it's own version of a "dance game".
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zdemigoth
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| 13. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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| DamienKC wrote: | | It can still have the same LOOK and be different. All FPS games have guns and poopy, why aren't people going sue crazy in that? |
Not true in the world of patent law. Two entities can operate in the relatively same manner and perform the relatively same function and be considered equivalents, at least when it comes to IP.
And, if someone were to somehow patent a FPS and a judge were to uphold the patent if it came into court, then the holder of the patent could sue. |
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Catastrophe
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Joined: 04 Mar 2002
Location: Worcester, MA |
| 14. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 3:48 pm Post subject: Settlement |
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Ouch. (read just the bold parts as one sentence)
| Quote: | | ORDERED that Defendant Roxor Games, Inc., and officers, agents, servants, employees, and any person in active concert or participation with them, are hereby permanently enjoined from, direct or indirectly, making, having made, importing, using, offering to sell or lease, and/or selling or leasing, or assisting, causing, inducing, or agreeing with any other entity to make, have made, import, use, offer to sell or lease, and/or sell or lease, any dance games and other rhythmic games that use computer technology to infringe one or more of the Asserted Patent Claims, specifically including, without limitation, the In The Groove(R) dance video game, including, but not limited to, all generations of Roxor's In The Groove(R) arcade dance games, In The Groove(R) home console dance games, and In The Groove(R) personal computer dance games. |
Well, that does leave the devs with the option of persuing other careers in game development. If I remember correctly, Konami's original remedies were to acquire everything relating to ITG, to have the court obtain and destroy copies of ITG, and to forbid the ITG staff from working on any video game whatsoever. At least this way they can still work on rhythm games so long as the other requirements are met. But that's still pretty sucky for them.
FPS fans have Carmack to thank for being against software patents. He intentionally leaves his engineering unprotected. But then again he didn't spend millions inventing it, either. His work isn't any less valuable for having been invented on a budget - that's just his choice. Just about everyone else on Earth though, companies large and small, want both fame and fortune, not just fame. (Then Carmack ended up with a fortune because he turned himself into a celebrity.) |
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DJTyrant
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Joined: 25 Jan 2002
Location: Ventura, CA |
| 15. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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I just wish there would be a straightforward answer to what the hell is happening. All this legal jargon is ridiculous.
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OLRmy Sai-kun
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| 16. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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Straightforward answer:
Pwned.
Also: In The Groove? More liek In Teh Grave
lolol. *shot*
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Scarenormous!
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| 17. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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| DJTyrant wrote: | | I just wish there would be a straightforward answer to what the hell is happening. |
Roxor can't touch ITG or any 4-panel dance games anymore. But damn, if Konami feels like going on a roll, they could craq down on stepmania now if I get it right. They might even have an alright case against Andamiro. I mean this goes past the converted machines, even the dedicabs aren't okay anymore. And since Andamiro helped make dedicabs....
Hey I know it would be illegal for Roxor to put out another AC update, but could Konami? Could konami make like r22 or something?
Is it okay for Roxor to still host the updates on Roxor's website??
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Wakka Lakka
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| 18. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:19 pm Post subject: Re: Settlement |
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| Catastrophe wrote: | | Well, that does leave the devs with the option of persuing other careers in game development. |
Actually they can still make rhythm and dance games, just not ones which infringe. And how can that exist? Easy. Konami invented a machine which makes someone dance. The thing the invention does (the dance moves) can be copied by anyone - that's called competition (building the better mousetrap), just not how Konami's invention does it. If Tae Bo wants to make an aerobic routine DVD using 4-arrow dance moves as the basis, there is nothing Konami can do about it - he makes people do the same move in a different way.
| Catastrophe wrote: | | FPS fans have Carmack to thank for being against software patents. He intentionally leaves his engineering unprotected. |
Carmack did not invent anything. Binary space partition and 3D rendering has been around for years. He did, however, implement one of the best BSP 3D engines for the most popular platforms. Copyright, and not patent, would apply (although his implementation may involve patent-able rendering techniques)
Last edited by Wakka Lakka on Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:41 pm, edited 2 times in total |
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MC Yiffalot
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Joined: 18 Aug 2006
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| 19. Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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| This news makes me want to cry. |
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