Sony hit with trademark suit
- Posted January 29th, 2008 at 00:58 EDT by
- 50 Comments
Sony has long been trying to reach out to the mainstream/casual gamer with games such as SingStar, Eyetoy, and Buzz!, but the latter may have gotten them in a bit of trouble. The trivia game Buzz! caught the attention of one company that thinks Sony's family friendly trivia game is a little too similar.
Carlsbad, California-based Buzztime Entertainment, filed suit against Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in the Southern District of California last week which claims that Sony has violated some of their trademarks, such as the slogan "It's time to get buzzing."
Although Buzztime does not officially hold the trademark for using the word "buzz" in gaming, it does hold trademarks for "entertainment in the nature of interactive games played via interactive television and an interactive global computer network," and "equipment for playing a plug and play game, namely, video game machines for use with televisions, video game interactive remote control units, video game cartridges, and interactive video game programs." Buzztime is accusing Sony of "malicious, fraudulent, knowing, willful, and deliberate" violation of the trademarks, as they claim that Sony is trying to market their games under the association of the original Buzztime published games.
Buzztime was established in 1985 and caters primarily to the restaurants and bars for trivia-based games. Also as part of their quiz services, Buzztimes offers trivia quizzes over mobile phones, digital cable and satellite systems, and even offers home versions (some of them Coleco-branded) that hook up to a TV and include differently colored wireless controllers, very similar to Buzz!'s setup.
As compensation for this suit, Buzztime is pleading the court for actual damages, punitive damages, legal fees, and an order to block SCEE's pending trademarks registration from the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Comments
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BD_BLACKAZZ |
BD_BLACKK- 1:00am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 1
What.... people will sue for anything to get rich.....
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IRONMAIDEN
- 1:30am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 9
whoever they are. just pay them the 150 dollar fine. like anyone has heard of them
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xtago
- 1:44am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 12
"entertainment in the nature of interactive games played via interactive television and an interactive global computer network,"
"equipment for playing a plug and play game, namely, video game machines for use with televisions, video game interactive remote control units, video game cartridges, and interactive video game programs."Oh great so that only just covers every game made plus every console/device ever made for playing games on a TV but they havn't sued any company until now, humm.
no idea what will happen seeing as it's an US Patent from an US company in the USA, sueing a euro company in the USA. -
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Untildeath89 |
willmakenewonesoon- 2:07am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 15
they have the right, btw buzz is buzz its not guzz or anything and its gaming sony made misstake
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lforet |
RaineKos- 2:30am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 18
Why does every company forget the Sub-clause for trademark law.
COMMON KNOWLEDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!
You cannot sue over items that related in design. They have to be extremely close to get involved in suit. Don't invent a new TV or Phillips will sue you for using the 4:3 aspect ratio or its too close in dimensions. Get a freakin grip people. This is why inventors are scared to release new things.
To quote Xtago;
"entertainment in the nature of interactive games played via interactive television and an interactive global computer network,"
"equipment for playing a plug and play game, namely, video game machines for use with televisions, video game interactive remote control units, video game cartridges, and interactive video game programs."
Oh great so that only just covers every game made plus every console/device ever made for playing games on a TV but they havn't sued any company until now, humm -
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Undying_Darkness
- 3:20am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 20
Their sueing Sony because they brought joy to thousands of kids with their game?
THOSE HEARTLESS B@ST@RDS!!
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maverick6611
- 3:26am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 22
sadly they can sue.. the thing is it will be settled out of court and sony will buy them out. Buzztime is an old a$s trivia game before i was ever born. so they have no bearing in the case all sony has to do is by them out in a settlement for 500 dollars concidering thats all their worth. so sony just needs to offer them a 80 gb ps3 and tell them to have fun playing Buzz...
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frank_magnet |
Frank_Magnt- 4:44am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 24
How long has buzz been out? Why has it taken so long for them to suddenly want to sue?
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PS3-The Ultimate Machine
- 5:38am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 27
Wasn't this thing released originally on the ps2,where the h*ll were these ppl then?!?!?
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ephracis |
ephracis- 5:56am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 28
As already noted: those patent quotes covers like every video game and console ever made. Lesson: get rid of patents, they suck! Or at least fix them.
Second: Buzz is old, and they sue now? Odd.
Third: wtf? SCEE? In California? Hey guys, maybe you missed what the last E stand for. Or did you know there's a SCEA? Morons or do they have an evil plan? Cause nothing makes sense.
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jamisonsalamande
- 7:14am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 30
Jesus fxing christ. Companies need to stop being d1ckwads about this crap. No one even knows about half these companies, and they only get popularity by suing over pointless stupid sh1t like this. Go away, it's not our fault you can't friggen make your games popular
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Paranoimia |
Paranoimia- 7:47am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 31
Yet another sad little company who want to make money off the back of Sony's success.
Why now, I wonder? Why not years ago, when the Buzz games first appeared on PS2?
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Prayer350z |
Prayer350z- 8:42am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 33
lol people love to sue people for every little thing
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GordLacey
- 11:28am GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 36
Hmm....this is interesting. I actually hope it turns into something a lot larger than a simple lawsuit - lemme explain.
Buzztime is better known as NTN, the trivia game that appears in tons of bars/pubs in North America. It's a lot of fun, and they offer lots of interesting trivia games. Games are usually 30 mins in length, and are broken up into 3 rounds, with short intermissions between each round where ads are displayed (a mix of ads for the bar you're playing in, and "national" ads).
I would LOVE to see Buzztime partner with Sony for a FREE version of NTN playable over the PSN. Games can be set up in a similar way; 30 mins, with intermissions. The game would be ad-supported, and could probably derive good revenue off the ads since people are flipping the channel, or going to the bathroom (there isn't enough time). Having a free game like this would work really well, especially if you could have clan support.
So, while you may be pissed this company is suing Sony, there's a chance it'll get both sides talking, which results in a game like I've suggested. -
D3v1lwqer23
- 12:08pm GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 37
took them long enough, how longs it been out now??? But seriously its ridiculous.
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vfitz22 |
vfitz66- 1:27pm GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 40
lol...how come its always american companies?...feelbad 4 sony, first the controller and now this. Seems 2 me that since they were forced 2 pay out over the dualshock 2 controller, every 2-bit company's wantin a crack at an easy buck. shame that the worlds full of such greedy b@st@rds. dnt get y der all sueing now tho,.
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Zippie151 |
Sanguineous- 1:30pm GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 41
The thing that always suprises me about these suits, is that they always call for the product to be recalled or destroyed etc. Surely they would rather it be continued and jus demand royalties from the proceeds? anyway this is well beyond a joke now and people should just shut up talking about and filing these damn suits. Anyone know how these are usually resolved? settle out of court kinda thing i suppose.
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Alpha2
- 7:23pm GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 46
BulIsh!t.
To read their tradmark list they pretty much have rights to every interactive function ever made. Which means their suit is nothing more than a nuisance suit. Global interactive network? Last I checked Buzz was for PS2 and there's barely any internet function at all on it let alone a "global" interactive network.
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sleepyzombie
- 8:19pm GMT - January 29th, 2008
- 49
They're most likely hoping Sony will settle out of court because, from the sound of it, they have a trademark on everything gaming
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InfernoReaper |
GrimDarkling- 1:02am GMT - January 30th, 2008
- 50
Those trademarks make it sound like they own the trademark to everything gaming. Anyway, why is this coming up now? The PS2 had a Buzz game and nobody said anything.
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