Taser International Inc. filed a lawsuit against Linden Labs on April 17th, citing trademark infringement, claiming it sells virtual versions of it’s stun weapons without it’s permission.
Taser says its reputation and it’s sales are being hurt by Linden Labs allowing virtual weapons to be sold in Second Life under the Taser brand name. The suit claims Linden Labs and third-party companies within SL are “selling virtual weaponry in a fully fledged copy of plaintiff’s real ones for use in the Second Life computer simulation.”
Taser says the unauthorized use of it’s name was especially damaging as the online stores also include pornographic material. "All of the defendants that sell virtual weaponry like plaintiff's real ones, under the mark Taser for use in the Second Life programs and grids, also sell adult-only explicit images and scenes," according to the suit.
Besides Linden Labs, the suit names as defendants LL founder Philp Rosedale, CEO Mark Kingdon, and Chief Financial Officer John Zdanowski, as well as SL companies such as XStreet SL and Virtuatrade LLC. Taser is suing for damages over $75,000.
Taser designs and builds stun guns for use by police and military, but also markets a line of the weapons for civilian use. Taser itself has been the subject of lawsuits.
The 102 page suit was filed in Federal court in Phoenix Arizona. The case is Taser International Inc. v. Linden Research Inc., 2:09-cv-00811
Sources:
Bloomberg,
The Escapist
On May 5th, Taser International Inc. dropped the lawsuit it had filed against Linden Lab last month, filing a Notice of Voluntary Case Dismissal. Taser had filed the suit on April 17th, against Linden Lab and various smaller parties, including SL businesses, citing trademark infringement over virtual replicas of it’s nonlethal weapons sold without it’s permission.
