Tim "Edge Games" Langdell has lost a round in court with EA over the use of his "Edge" trademarks. In refusing his request for a preliminary injunction, judge William Alsup described Edge Games as 'trolling' and suggested that it could face criminal charges.
"Given the suspect nature of Dr. Langdell's representations to both the USPTO and the Court concerning plaintiff's current and future sales and business activities, it is an open question whether plaintiff's business activities legitimately extend beyond trolling various gaming-related industries for licensing opportunities," wrote the judge.
Alsup offered as an example a game Edge claimed to have released in 2004, but which did not have a public website until years later, which the USPTO relied upon when renewing Edge Game's trademark in 2009. Langdell has claimed agreements with other companies, including Marvel, Future Publishing and Velocity Micro., all of whom used the word "Edge" in products.
EA, however, challenged the trademark after Langdell added the logo of its game "Mirror's Edge" to his website, bizarrely edited to suggest Langdell had developed a nearly identical title. Soon thereafter, Langdell sued EA for infringing the "Edge" trademark.
Gamers, outraged by Langdell's use of the trademark to force a popular game off Apple's Appstore, themselves uncovered more of Edge Games' curious antics. Kyle Orland, writing in Gamasutra, notes the most amusing: crudely doctored box art filed with the US Patents and Trademarks Office, which Judge Alsup said may warrant criminal penalties.
In his order, Alsup even created info-graphics comparing Dr. Langdell's USPTO filings with the actual products, describing in detail "evidence of fraud" that forces the court to play "spot the differences:"
Order denying preliminary injunction [PDF]
Court Refuses Preliminary Injunction In Edge Trademark Case [Gamasutra]
Previously: Trademark wars: Edge vs Edge — Boing Boing Offworld — UPDATED
