Switch Lights

The lights are on

What's Happening

Ubisoft Sued For Patent Infringement In Rocksmith

Ubisoft's Innovative Rocksmith guitar technology may not be so innovative after all. Guitar Apprentice, a company that creates guitar tutorials, is accusing Ubisoft of patent infringement in its game Rocksmith for a musical instruction pertaining to users playing an instrument to audio signals.

The news comes courtesy of Patent Arcade (not to be confused with Penny Arcade). Ross Dannenberg of Patent Arcade reports that "the '896 patent was only filed in October 2010, claiming priority to a provisional application file June 30, 2010, so I suspect there is going to be a validity fight based on any prior art out there." Although Guitar Apprentice is a video-based tutorial that can be downloaded on a computer or purchased on a DVD, the method of learning by playing a real guitar along to finger placement is similar in design.

You can read all about USP patent 8,119,896 right here. Ubisoft is already facing Rocksmith-related lawsuits with Game Tank over gameplay technology and UK band Rocksmith for the name of the product. If anyone else has a lawsuit to file, now is the time.

Email the author , or follow on , , and .

Comments
  • So there's a patent on teaching guitar now? This broken and unconstitutional system of copyright/patent will be fixed in my generation, if it takes extreme measures to do so.
  • Screw off Guitar Apprentice, no one likes you.

  • Patent trolls ruin EVERYTHING!
  • Boo to dumb lawsuits I say. BOO!
  • Ooops.

  • Ahem, excuse me gentleman I need to go sue descendants of the Ancient Sumerian Culture for infringing upon my patent of the wheel. I would sue descendants of Neolithic Age, but that would just be far to presumptuous of me.
  • WTF? That's like Sony suing Microsoft for Xbox controllers using analog sticks.
  • Naturally. About someone else having a patent over which to sue, of course.
  • I don't care when it was patented. Whoever did it better has MY win.

  • thats bull

  • Oh no :( Rocksmith was a really good game too.

  • Ubisoft's never been the brightest tool in the gaming shed. If it wasn't for Assassins' Creed, I wouldn't care about them at all.
  • Why don't they go sue Rock Band and Guitar Hero while they're at it, as well? 'Cause they're video games. There's supposed to be an open market for products, just leave them be.

  • Yes, YES, they're falling right into my trap. Soon I will sue them for infringing on my patent, in which I patented having a patent!
  • Hey, that guitar looks like the one that got stolen from me a while back...

    LAWSUIT UP.

  • I have no problem with an inventor filing a patent for something he invented, but they need to expire after a time. There is so much technology out there that is inaccessible to the market because *** corporations buy them up and sit on them to eliminate competition. I think ALL patents (with the only exceptions for weapons of mass destruction) need to go open-source after 10 years, with no possibility for extension. If you can't make your fortune in 10 years, it goes to the open market. End of story. I also think we need a separation of business and state written into the constitution, so congressmen and senators cannot own or hold stock in businesses. Congressmen and senators need to be annually audited by the IRS to verify they aren't taking bribes. In fact, I don't think we should have corporations at all. All businesses should be private ownerships, with the business owner held directly responsible for the success or failure of the business. Can you imagine a truly free market with a looser, more equitable patent law with the majority of the nations financial strength held by small businesses? We would have a thousand times as much competition as we do today, prices would be far more competitive, there would be less outsourcing (mom and pop stores can't employ people in china) there would be less corruption running rampant in our government... It sounds like a dream doesn't it? It sounds better than what we have today in every way conceivable. Yet, it was what WE HAD during the second world war, when the United States was the industrial, technological, and economic powerhouse of the world. It has all gone up in smoke with the advent of Corporatocracy.
  • LEAVE ROCKSMITH ALONE!

  • well, they should get over themselves. They didn't make a game out of it.

  • Ummm well I would like to file a lawsuit against Bioware...

  • I have my own way of eating cereal.....if any of you bastards do it I will sue you so far up the ass you'll be coughing up your life savings.
1 2 3 Next