Its not even as simple as changing the name as even if they did change that, Langdell could still claim for previous infringement whilst they used the "edge" name. He obviously wants a % of their profits from their game as he's a greedy non-developer (he just makes vapourware). Its a shame this case has come back, I thought and hoped it was dead last time, but alas Langdell is at least very committed to protecting his dodgy trademark claims. Lets all hope EA kicks his ass in court, but if I remember correctly, he already lost a case previously with Namco (regarding Soul Edge, renamed Soul Caliber), but that hasn't stopped him, so I doubt another loss would either.
First off, I'm well aware of Mobigame's situation with Langdell and all the hell they have gone through with that putz! I've been following the story ever since the first pull from the AppStore. I know exactly why Mobigame choose "Edge" for the name of their game and agree it fits perfectly. However, that doesn't mean that there is not a single other name that wouldn't fit the game. Also, Edge has been on my iPhone since the day I purchased it which wasn't all that long after it was first released. It was one of the best "original" game ideas out there for the iPhone and still is even with nearly 100,000 apps to pick from. All that said, Reviews are wonderful, but don't equate to game sales. They just mean that reviewers got their hands on the app and loved it. No surprise there really. It Edge by Mobigame made it on the Top Grossing list, I must have missed it. However, it's not on there now, so even if it was on the list, it's not getting the sales it was. My original point was that if the game had been in the store the entire life of the game and not been pulled twice so far with a possible third pull shortly, it would have made a lot more money due to the fact that when it was pulled the first time, there was less than 25,000 apps in the store, giving Mobigame more opportunity to gain decent sales. Instead, Mobigame has been fully distracted by all the legal wrangling it has had to deal with to the extent that they haven't been able to do anything other than a small update to Edge instead of potentially writing several more games that could be blowing us away. @galaxygrrl: I'm no lawyer and I suspect that you are not either. In this paticular case, I believe that the whole point of the legal wranglings between Mobigame and Langdell is over the "Name" of the game. The whole point is that Langdell doesn't want the word "Edge" in any software title. Now, I'm not saying that Langdell is a saint. However, if he does, in fact, own the trademark for the word "Edge", then he has every right to fight for that trademark just as Apple has the right to fight for the trademark iPod. If they don't legally fight for their trademarks, they lose their trademarks.
@vesperdem Not gonna quote as your post is huge, but you make some interesting points. Yes, obviously Mobigame would have made more money if they had remained in the store, but as they say any publicity is good publicity and this is surely that. If they did hit the top grossing list, that was likely due to the news of it returning and people buying it after not being able to when it was pulled. Also as I pointed out in my post above yours, even if they change the name, Langdell can still make a claim for all the sales they made during the period that the game was called "Edge".
the guy's a dick, sure, but he's probably just doing his job. EA as a company has always been full of bullshit so i really can't say i'm surprised.
@nizy: I must admit that I didn't think about the possibility that Langdell could claim the sales of Edge during all this. I wonder how easy it might be for Mobigame to claim that there couldn't possibly be any confusion over what patrons were buying. All you have to do is compare Mobigame's Edge with "anything" that Langdell has produced to see that Mobigame's quality is leaps and bounds above anything Langdell has created. Still... Between the Edge fiasco and the Stoneloops drama, all the hub-bub over Apple's review policy of iPhone/iPod touch apps. I wonder why any developer worth anything would even consider the iPhone/iPod touch platform for developing a game or even general application. Just too much risk for too little reward. It's certainly made me think long and hard...
Correct, I'm not, but I would guess that Langdell is suing for a share of the profits and/or damages. So, that is all I meant.
i dont understand how he can copyright the word 'edge' from being used in any titles..its just a WORD like wtf..if i was the judge id throw the case out within the first 10 mins
Fair enough. Problem with getting a share of the "profits" would be that since the app hasn't been in the AppStore for very long (thanks to Langdell's insistence on pulling it), there probably isn't all that much money if any in "profits" available to steal. I don't know how long it took Mobigame to develop Edge, but I would assume that before the game could profit, it would have to pay it's employee's for developing the software. If we are talking "gross" sales, then that's a different matter. Not nearly as much as they could have made if Edge had stayed in the store.
The same way Apple can "trademark" the word Apple and Dell can trademark the word dell. If you were the judge and threw out the case, you yourself would be either kicked out of the courtroom forever or be sued to high heaven yourself. Trademark's are a part of our legal system and need to be defended when ever they are being "used in vain", or the trademark will be lost forever.
I believe these 2 posts are enough circumstantial evidence that ImNoSuperMan and Mr Crazy are in a conspiracy to do Mr Langdall in. You guys better pray nothing happens to him.
