Court documents suggest that EA is speeding towards legal victory
Tim Langdell’s confrontational use of the Edge trademark may be coming to an end.
A new legal document in circulation suggests that the Edge Games boss will likely lose trademark protection on the word ‘Edge’, following a legal pursuit from EA.
Electronic Arts crossed paths with Langdell following the release of the FPS Mirror’s Edge, a game with a title Langdell deemed unacceptable.
Langdell, as he does with all games which use the common noun ‘edge’, pursued legal action against the game’s developer DICE.
His confidence in being protected by the Edge trademark was revealed to Develop back in November, when he claimed that EA’s legal fight is “guaranteed to fail since EA has failed to meet the basic requirements to get a mark cancelled in either territory.”
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He said, “Despite rumours to the contrary, Edge Games has either won every dispute in the past 20 years over the mark Edge or has settled amicably with the other party ending the dispute with an agreement in Edge Games' favour."
“That acknowledges and reaffirms Edge's ownership of the mark Edge.”
The new documents suggest, however, that Langdell’s trademark is in process of being cancelled, pending stipulations of trademark law.
[TIMELINE: LANGDELL'S LEGAL CRUSADE]
Johan Andersson, a rendering architect at EA studio DICE with a passion for Twitter, broke the news. His initial message has since been deleted.
Andersson followed up by claiming that “on a second note, that 'Edge' news was probably not a confirmed kill, more of a good update. But should be inevitable.”
Develop is contacting the parties involved for comment.
Andersson has expressed that his views are personal opinion, adding that his perspective on the situation has not come with any inside knowledge.
The legal matter remains unresolved.
.......but I hope this doesn't mean my "Duty", "Planet", "Training" and "Fit" trade marks are in jeopardy too?
The document in question says nothing of the sort.
It is simply another filing by EA that is subject to the same processes as the previous ones. VG247 already broke this story and have subsequently removed it, as everybody noticed the clearly written 'pending cancellation' next to each trademark.
To clarify, that's pending as in 'if it's approved' not as in 'imminent'.
Agreed,
Comment above is correct, there are still loops to jump through, and I'm satisfied that's been made clear in the story.
However, we are happy to update the article if necessary - right now I'm not convinced there needs to be any amendments.
We've contacted EA and Langdell to get clarification on the matter as well, so I imagine clarification will come.
Also, DICE's Johan Andersson - who has an inside perspective on the matter - rephrased his claim that the Edge trademark shackles were broken, going on to suggest that this is now a matter of time.
My friend wants to call their new boy Timothy (Tim). We are waiting for this case to be settled. I am hoping it will be before Tim(othy) goes to university. Seriously, I used to deal with Dr Langdell in 1986. Crikey, it was a really bad dream. Fairlight, Bobby Bearing....the stuff of nightmares from a business experience POV. Every invoice was disputed, nothing was smooth. He's still at it I see. Good luck EA, you will get thre.
Suppose this means I'll have to can that Moronic the EdgeHog game...
As an EA shareholder and a confirmed fan of DICE's output i must say that I simply can't wait to see how this plays out.
Normally I would look dimly on any EA spend that isn't on developement, marketing or prosuction but this has got to be the best use of corporate funds ever.
Here's hoping that this odious little man's grip on a common noun is finally broken...
Tim Langdell is just a bully. All developers and gamers know he's going down because he's a parasite for the gaming community. He's there since 1984? I think it's time he goes home to sleep because he's not contributing to anything good; he's just a money-sucking parasite. He sues you, then calls you to "settle" the issue on friendly terms, meaning you pay him personally and he drops the claim. Another cowardly and dishonest thing he did was put up on his website a game called "Mirror" that's been said to be "coming soon" ever since Mirror's Edge was announced. He's trying to prove that Mirror's Edge can confuse people with its title. However Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all said that Tim Langdell's "Mirror" game is not an actual game and it's not coming on any console or PC. So that old parasite can bite his fingers because soon enough this tax collector won't have anyone sue and collect money from, since his rights to common words will be cancelled. The site "gamepolitics.com" has a very good coverage of that story!
