atari sues target for foot pong game

[0078265317]

Here's the actual court docket: https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/cacdce/2:2018cv10735/732621

 

 

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

[Swami]

Isn't Pong just Ping Pong? I'm always surpised at the terms someone can trademark, like half of an onomatopoeia? That's like trademarking the the "dong" in ding dong. Then again, Kellogg's sued Exxon for having a cartoon Tiger.

[Tanooki]

 

Realistically, Target has access to more resources than Atari SA - and two of those key resources are money and lawyers. They can keep Atari SA tied up with expending their meagre resources on fighting this pretty much ad inifinitum.

 

If this is the hill Atari SA picked to die on, they really chose one they're not prepared to climb.

Given some of the shady stuff I've been made aware of the french head of that company has done to other individuals, I can hope they die on that hill and in a very public and painful display so people can finally enjoy a well deserved pounding.

[VintageGamer74]

Sad that this is the only way that this version of Atari gets coverage. If it's not the nonsensical lawsuits like this. The failed crowdfunding campaigns like Rollercoaster Tycoon. Or them getting busted for Tempest 4000 trickery. Nothing positive comes from this version of "Atari"! This version of Atari just needs to go away.

[godslabrat]

Given some of the shady stuff I've been made aware of the french head of that company has done to other individuals, I can hope they die on that hill and in a very public and painful display so people can finally enjoy a well deserved pounding.

Yeah, Atari has spent at least a decade making nothing of value and only serving to make life worse for its fans. I literally wish them the worst at this point. Not the logos and IPs, those need to continue on... but the scuzzbags in charge need to be stopped.

[Tanooki]

Well I have contacts in a couple of places in the game making industry who have run afoul of the frog bastard and pretty much anything you see negative said about the man in publications and side banter online are all basically true. The stereotypical (negative) frenchman. Arrogant, rude, full of his own fart sniffing behavior with a very puffed up attitude over how special he thinks he is and what he controls. Treats people like shit on a shoe. Says one thing, randomly changes to another while making or after making deals trying to move goal posts and screw with people to his advantage. Vile and nasty, extremely short tempered with known bouts of lashing out and making idol arrogant cheap threats and trying to act on them at times to typically just implode. Known to go as far as taking classic franchise game rebirths and having much if not all of a game (sequel) made to then want something so start over time wasting quality people just walk away from additional if not the money to get away from the prick. Also likes to negotiate to use that very old IP backlog he has to try and extort good sums of money for rotten contracts he can manipulate to grease anyone dumb enough to sign off working on things to extort more money or control. He's the king european parasite of game company holders who leeches the life and control out of anything it touches until death or worse, death controlled zombie. Just assume anything that ass is tied to can, will, and utterly should always fail if not outright, in a form of some dragged out sad embarrassment of what is and shouldn't have been. I think that little rant there says plenty without naming names and specifics to get him all froggy happy over some NDA panty twist.

[DragonGrafx-16]

I noticed something was wrong with Atari when the Atari Vault compilation was worse than the previous versions (80 Classic Games and the Atari Anniversary). I was trying to run the game on a 10 year old laptop but that's not an excuse. You don't need a beastly rig to run some old Atari games. Now I just use MAME.

[mr_me]

Isn't Pong just Ping Pong? I'm always surpised at the terms someone can trademark, like half of an onomatopoeia? That's like trademarking the the "dong" in ding dong. Then again, Kellogg's sued Exxon for having a cartoon Tiger.

Ping pong was a trademark of parker brothers; the generic term of the game is table tennis. The same name can be trademarked by two different people if used in different markets. Any word or name can be trademarked as long as it's not a generic term for the thing; that's why it's important for Atari/infogrames to prevent the term pong from becoming generic.

 

Atari SA recently got listed on the US stock market with the symbol PONGF (the F is for France). I guess they're into protecting their feeble branding -- that's about the only asset they have going for them.

 

I can't think of any other old video game concept that is quite as primitive, bland, or generic as PONG. It's strange how they seem to think it's worth something.

If it wasn't worth anything, Target wouldn't have used it to promote whatever it is they are promoting. Edited January 1, 2019 by mr_me

[+frankodragon]

Here's an updated docket of what's going on with Nutari and Target:

 

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/26556532/Atari_Interactive_Inc_v_Target_Corporation

[ChildOfCv]

If it wasn't worth anything, Target wouldn't have used it to promote whatever it is they are promoting.

 

It didn't seem like they were promoting anything with it. It was just a time waster for the kids. If anything, its main purpose was to show off the technology of optical tracking of your feet.

[amiman99]

It's funny how "Atari" is suing Target for a PONG patent, but they had to pay license to Magnavox for producing PONG game. In 1970s Magnavox was suing other companies for producing PONG games, if they did not sign license agreement, not Atari. Even Coleco had to sign agreement with Magnavox.

Also, PONG came from Ping Pong.

 

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130152/the_ten_most_important_video_game_.php?print=1

 

"1. The One That BIRTHED the Industry - Pong Patent

As if any other patent could hold the number one spot on this list!

Back in 1969, a man named William Rusch filed a patent application for a “Television Gaming Apparatus” that used a paddle-type control to move onscreen objects that collided with other onscreen objects. The resulting patent, RE28,50716, was eventually licensed to Magnavox, who then used that technology to release the first video game console: the Magnavox Odyssey.

When a rival upstart company, Atari, released their Atari 2600™ home console that also sported paddle controls, Magnavox took notice and Atari took a license for its “PONG” game. In the decade after that, Magnavox successfully asserted its patent in multiple lawsuits against Seeburg, Bally-Midway, Mattel, Activision and Nintendo, demonstrating without a doubt that a strong patent is the perfect way to protect your intellectual territory. The Odyssey system and PONG game launched what has since become a multi-billion dollar industry, and the ‘507 patent rightfully deserves the title of the Number One Video Game Patent."

Edited January 26, 2019 by amiman99

[amiman99]

I was looking at this lawsuit today, just to check up on it, and noticed this:

April 8 2019 "NOTICE of Voluntary Dismissal filed by Plaintiff Atari Interactive Inc. Dismissal is Without Prejudice. (Wesley, Keith)"

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/26556532/Atari_Interactive_Inc_v_Target_Corporation%C2%A0

Is this mean that Atari is dropping the lawsuit?

[Flojomojo]

I was looking at this lawsuit today, just to check up on it, and noticed this:

April 8 2019 "NOTICE of Voluntary Dismissal filed by Plaintiff Atari Interactive Inc. Dismissal is Without Prejudice. (Wesley, Keith)"

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/26556532/Atari_Interactive_Inc_v_Target_Corporation%C2%A0

Is this mean that Atari is dropping the lawsuit?

 

Yes, but "without prejudice" means they could turn around and change their minds, and bring another lawsuit if they decided they haven't wasted enough time and money on this. I pulled the most interesting court documents and posted them here. Target bitch-slapped Atari* into the middle of next week, which was fun to read.

 

*the shambling corpse wearing the skin of Atari, since the real company died in 1996