Langdell Still Claims Control Over The Word Edge; Sues EA For Mirror's Edge

Trademark

from the step-away-from-the-edge dept

We’ve covered Tim Langdell and his ridiculous trademark claims for years. He’s the guy who got a trademark on the word “edge” for a video game fifteen or so years ago, and now seems to spend all of his time threatening and/or suing any game or app maker who puts the word “edge” in the title, even though there’s no likelihood of confusion, and Langdell’s own failure to actually release a game in many years raises questions about how valid the mark is. EA, who had been threatened by Langdell for its Mirror’s Edge game asked the USPTO to dump the trademark last year, claiming not only have the marks been abandoned, but that they were obtained via fraudulent means. The PTO is still reviewing that request.

However, Langdell is not sitting still. His lawyers kindly spammed me today with the news that they’re suing EA over this trademark. Not surprisingly, they play up Langdell’s position, and leave out the abandonment of the trademark, the lack of any likelihood of confusion and other pertinent details along those lines. Trademark law, despite Langdell’s apparent belief, does not give a company full control over a word, especially if they’re not using it. No one is confusing Mirror’s Edge with Langdell’s ancient games.

Filed Under: edge, mirror's edge, tim langdell, trademark, video games
Companies: ea