In spite of his recent setbacks, Edge Games boss Tim Langdell has launched yet another trademark infringement complaint, this time against the iPhone game Killer Edge Racing.
Tim Langdell’s name should be familiar enough by now: His ill-advised adventure against Mobigame’s iPhone game Edge inspired a wave of public outrage and nasty backlash, even as it ultimately came to naught: Edge came back to the App Store, EA’s legal department waded into the fray and Edge Games, by all appearances, was a spent force, its days of threatening Edge-related litigation finally brought to a close.
But that final assessment may have been premature. Langdell recently submitted a complaint to Apple over PuzzleKing’s Killer Edge Racing, which responded by asking the developer to remove the game from the App Store until the matter is resolved. Making matters worse, Edge Games has also reportedly submitted trademark filings for “Killer Edge Racing” and “Killer Edge Racers” in the U.S.
In response, Killer Edge Racing creator Nalim Sharma has hired Sheridans, the same legal firm that assisted Mobigame in its Edge dispute. The firm says Langdell’s trademark claims are unenforceable for several reasons, including the fact that they are “liable to be revoked on the grounds of non-use for five years.”
“In this case and the Mobigame case we consider that under trade mark law it is necessary for Langdell [or his companies] to show that the public will be confused into believing there is an economic connection between his marks and the names used the games in question,” Sheridans’ Alex Chapman told GamesIndustry. “There is clearly, in our view, no prospect of this being the case in respect of Killer Edge Racing or Edge by Mobigame – and that is before you go on to consider whether Langdell’s [or his company’s marks are even valid].”
“Additionally we have learned that Langdell is behind an application to register a U.S. trademark for ‘Killer Edge Racing’ despite the fact that this mark has been used freely by Nalin for five years,” added Alex Tutty, also of Sheridans.
Sharma himself also disputed several of Langdell’s claims, including that Edge Games had written to him “several times” regarding the potential infringement. “In fact they wrote only once, which I decided to ignore after coming to the conclusion that TL [Tim Langdell] is not capable of acting in a reasonable way,” he said.
Source: Pocket Gamer
