John Walker, over on the fine PC gaming news site Rock, Paper Shotgun, has written a wonderful update on our favourite trademark troll. So quit reading these words and get clicking on the link below.
Please help us to put a stop to this trademark bully!
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Truly awesome news.
Sounds like all the work done by ChaosEdge had some repercussions on the judge in the end, one way or another…
Congrats, guys.
We all owe you a few beer on this one
I think when Tim Langdell started all this he didn’t count on the fact that the internet would spawn a whole plethora of resourceful individuals who could smell bullshit from a mile off and would stop at nothing to bring him down.
With the world populated with militant hackers and techno splinter groups it was only a matter of time before all of his lies were unravelled.
“The Edge … there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.”
- Hunter S Thompson.
Ace! I notice that Langdell is trying to un-cancel his ownership of the ‘Edge’ trademark in the US, because Future weren’t involved in the dispute with EA…
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92051465&pty=CAN&eno=35
Hopefully this ruling will help to put a stop to that!
The fun never stops. I loved the Judge’s reaction to the estoppel representation claim.
As at 11th July we’re heading for a grandstand finish with EA, Future Publishing and Langdell all in the same court at the USPTO. For more detail see my post on NeoGaf here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=29291110&postcount=216
One more thing. The USPTO has been digitising its old files, and this document has emerged from one of Langdell’s files:
http://tdr.uspto.gov/jsp/DocumentViewPage.jsp?74556730/SPE20110623104818/Specimen/2/23-Jun-2011/sn/false#p=1
It purports to be a copy of EDGE Magazine from 1994, but it looks like no 1990s magazine that I remember (and a lot like some 1970s/early 1980s gaming mags). It could do with some of the special ChaosEdge love and attention to track down what the hell it really is – anyone up for it?
According to Timmy:
“Alias Inc[sic] announced special deals for software developers working on the forthcoming ‘Ultra 64′ platform from Nintendo.”
The company that partnered with Nintendo for the NU64 was Alias Research. It has never been “Alias Inc”. A magazine purportedly in publication for 11 years should know to double check the first 2 words of an article.
http://www.ncat.edu/~kevintb/u64/nu64-cap.txt
“On 9 June 9, 1994, it was announced that Alias Research is creating customized
3-D graphics development tools for Nintendo Ultra 64.”
Timmy’s article states “…accompanying Alias’ pack with Alias PowerAnimator[TM] with Cinematics[TM] the developer…”
While Alias did produce PowerAnimator (not trademarked, BTW), they never produced a product called “Cinematics”. (Maya, the successor of PowerAnimator, is trademarked.)
I’d be curious to ask David Worrall, Sean Schur, or Cyrus Lum if they ever recall giving a quote to Alias Research for their literature. The quotes seem strange. For example, according to his LinkedIn profile, Sean Schur graduated from university in 1992. His first job was with Metrolight, and he left in 1994. Why would he be asked to provide such an odd quote just before leaving the company? To me it sounds like a very old man trying to sound like a very young man, but failing spectacularly. Specifically, “‘With Alias I’m totally neurojacked into the metaverse.’” Hmm. I also find it odd that many of the quotes are specific to “Alias software” as opposed to PowerAnimator. I think the audience knows that it’s software; no need to belabour the point. Speaking of belabouring, the term “CD-ROM” is used 11 times in 2 pages.
More interesting quotes:
According to Timmy:
“The long-term UK Nintendo video game developer, RARE, is using Alias software to create the flagship product for the Ultra 64, the – wait for it – 3D version of “Donkey Kong[TM]” (to be called Donkey Kong Country[TM]).”
From the 9th July 1994 issue of Billboard Magazine, page 70:
“The flagship ‘Donkey Kong Country,’ due Nov. 21 for the 16-bit Super NES system at $69.95, incorporates Nintendo’s proprietary Advanced Computer Modeling technology, created on high-end Silicon Graphics workstations. In practice, that theory translates to 3D realism for the graphics and improved audio quality for the soundtrack.”
Interstella Overdrive [TM] and Interworld [TM] – neither exists on either the UK IPO DB or TESS (the US trademark DB).
“Now Monthly”, after only 11 years of publication. Wow!
“Go figure, as we say here in California.” Really? Only in California?
The layout of the pages looks like issue 1 of C&VG from 1981:
http://www.64apocalypse.com/images/cvg/cvg85.htm
Actually, it looks more like the Spring/Summer 1982 issue of Playboy’s Electronic Entertainment
http://i56.tinypic.com/qyb7mt.jpg
Thanks for this John.
(puts on deadpan face)
I suppose it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Langdell did run an inhouse mag for his staff from starting up EDGE in 1984-ish – which squares with the 11 years claim, makes sense with the roughly quarterly publication stats and makes some sense of a design seemingly stuck in the late 70s/early 80s and the distinctly inhouse rahrah style that we’ve all known and hated at some stage.
Actually I guess that is something close to the truth (apart perhaps from massive exaggeration of the frequency of publication) since I suspect even Langdell isn’t stupid enough to deliberately fake a 1994 mag in 1980s style.
Even for Langdell though, it seems beyond belief that you’d *charge* your staff for a copy.
Though if your staff is largely imaginary I guess that isn’t too big a problem.
I can’t believe either that anyone would actually buy this crap.So it would never have been traded.
Looks like more made-up junk to support a trademark claim, presumably since EDGE Magazine started up in, what, 1993?
Interesting that every single game that the EDGE announced in this special issue then failed to emerge.
Actually that is another indication that this is a fake. I spent some time doing corporate mags (yeah, sad, I know), and the big problem with them is that nothing much interesting happens most of the time, so you are forced to fill the space with sales figures and interviews with staff members – both of which are noticeably absent from this. Not a single staff member except Langdell mentioned in what is mostly corporate puff suggests strongly that there were no others. There’s just too much (mis)information in it to support a monthly.
Way this goes usually is first issue you profile the CEO, second issue you profile the Sales Director, third issue there’s a backlash from staff so you profile somebody random who is much more interesting than the other two, but you always scatter names around so peopel read it to see if they know someone in it.
So it never happened, not even as a staff mag. Not for 42 issues, not even for 5. Probably just the two, one in the early ’80s and one in 1994 for the USPTO. Circulation 1 = the USPTO.
1 Mar 1995 correspondence from Langdell: “The channels of trade and distribution are entirely different, and our magazines are usually sold on a regular monthly or weekly basis. They differ substantially from the more academic quarterly desk reference work that this existing registration [73/735793] relates to.”
Academic quarterly desk reference – HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *breathe* HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Langdell is still trying to defend his action with (you guessed it) more lies)
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-21-tim-langdell-refutes-trademark-troll-tag
News had been a bit slow on ChaosEdge, so that might be something to chew on.
And a quick look on his website shows that he (gasp) actually released Bobby Bearing 2 (it’s on the Apple store.
On the other hand, his website is now VERY limited, he presents himself as an indie developer (no more oldest publisher crap, I guess) and even gives free publicity to Edge by Mobigames. What the hell’s going on?
What’s going on? He claims to be countersuing Future, and so the new website will undoubtedly form a part of that. Oddly, he still doesn’t seem to understand that people have copies of everything he’s stated before.
Interesting that the new site still bangs on about Future ‘licencing’ Edge for its website and has Edge trademarks at the end of the page. He’s also now on Twitter (@edgegames), following three people — one of which has written some negative articles about him. Classy.
Might be nitpicking here but I realised that while Langdell is advertising Mobigame’s Edge, under it is a blurp that seems to point the finger towards Future Publishing.Something about being ” free of the restrictions and requirements placed on us by our prior agreement with Future Publishing”. Langdell also kept his usual blurp about how EDGE Magazine is still under license from him, while simultaneously denying any involvement with a carefully placed Asterisk.
Actually nvm, I see that POLE7645 beat me to it. Terribly sorry about that.
Still not over. Surprise, surprise, it turns out he doesn’t have the rights to publish “EDGEBobby2″ and has been receiving cease-and-desist letters from Mobigames.
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multiformat/Edge/news.asp?c=31734
Langdell appointed himself lead counsel. Let the fireworks begin.
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92051465&pty=CAN&eno=43
More accurately, Langdell is *attempting* to appoint himself lead counsel, but it appears he has done so without Future’s consent. Like that’s gonna work.
Something rather funny as August has rolled around. Langdell submitted another motion adding two more trade marks on Aug 3rd that also were supposed to be partially owned by Future, and thus could not be given up. Ok, typical Langdell. The board will fix it, right?
Well, on Aug 4th Future submitted it’s own doc basically waving it’s rights to the trademarks and telling TTAB to go ahead and cancel everything in accordance with the original court order. It sounds like they are just fed up with Langdell’s antics at this point and want it all to go away.
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92051465&pty=CAN&eno=35
Looking at his site again after only a week ago and its all set back up with Mythora and Racers for PS3 and 360 amongst others, aswell as a licensee’s page listing how all the comics, films etc are all “amicable” agreements.
The most digusting part to me is trying to find favour by adding a yellow box blurb saying how 10% of Edge’s profits go to childrens charities. I’d love to know which ones (and then probably find out its all another lie)
The assignment info for the two reg #’s Langdell mentions, 3,559,342 and 2,219,837, both show that Edge Games is the sole owner:
Recorded: 05/01/2008
Conveyance:
ASSIGNS THE ENTIRE INTEREST
Assignor:
THE EDGE INTERACTIVE MEDIA, INC
Exec Dt:
02/21/2008
Entity Type:
CORPORATION
Citizenship:
NONE
Assignee:
EDGE GAMES, INC.
530 SOUTH LAKE AVENUE
#171
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91101
Entity Type:
CORPORATION
Citizenship:
NONE
Correspondent:
TIM LANGDELL
530 SOUTH LAKE AVENUE
#171
PASADENA, CA 91101
Does this mean he’ll simply issue yet another corrective assignment?
Isn’t it illegal now for Langdell to claim things were produced under license from him? I thought all of his rights were stripped and that the owners had to be informed of the status as of the conclusion of the EA Case. I understand that the final disposition of the trademarks is still being discussed, but I cannot imagine this is still allowed at this point.
New good stuff here:
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-92051465-CAN-47.pdf
In 2005, the 1st edition of “Game Testing All in One” was published, written by authors Charles P. Schultz, Robert Bryant, and Tim Langdell, PhD.
The 2nd edition was released on 1 August 2011 from authors Charles P. Schultz and Robert Bryant.
For the first time in Langdell history, Timmy’s wife, Cheri Langdell, has personally stepped in to validate the Certificates of Service in Langdell’s latest submissions to the USPTO on 3 and 4 Oct. What a great lady Timmy has, to help him out despite the fact that they aren’t even friends anymore on Facebook.
Any handwriting analysts out there? Looks like a match made in heaven – their handwriting even appears to be a perfect match!
http://i55.tinypic.com/1604qx4.jpg
I’m not sure about that. The curve below the ‘g’ is markedly different in both signatures, and that is usually characteristic.
I agree with you about the ‘g’, phisheep. It’s markedly different in each and every one of those signatures. But the ‘dell’ maintains consistency over the decades. I think that’s pretty remarkable.
BTW, continued and copious thanks for all the amazing commentary on this saga.
Plenty of stuff to pick apart in Langdell’s latest submission. http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92051465&pty=CAN&eno=66
Dunno if you guys have seen his site lately:
http://www.edgegames.com/licensees.htm
Not sure why I had the urge to look there, but hey…
Yes, and if you notice the edgegamers.org one he now redirects to edge-gamers.com and tries to place a footer license in an iframe. (you will notice it for the first second) Its been removed from the .COM site using a script. He also did it with the .US and .NET EdgeGamers domain as well as purchasing .ORG and .NET of Edge-Gamers.
All place an iframe to attempt to show the site is under license. If you view the source before the refresh, you will see.