Edge Games, Inc. v. Electronic Arts, Inc.
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
745 F. Supp. 2d 1101 (2010)
- Written by Abby Roughton, JD
Facts
Edge Games, Inc. (Edge) (plaintiff) was a small company that allegedly developed and sold video-game products. Electronic Arts (EA) (defendant) was a large international corporation that developed, published, and distributed video games and software. In July 2007, EA announced the creation of a first-person action-adventure game called Mirror’s Edge. EA had spent three years and millions of dollars developing the game. EA also spent over $9 million marketing and promoting Mirror’s Edge in North America. EA released Mirror’s Edge in November 2008. Over two million units of Mirror’s Edge had sold worldwide since its release, and EA had continued to develop other Mirror’s Edge products and content. EA Digital Illusions CE AB owned the federally registered mark MIRROR’S EDGE for use in software, comic books, and online video games. In June 2010, Edge sued EA in federal district court, asserting that Edge owned the federally registered marks EDGE, THE EDGE, GAMER’S EDGE, EDGE OF EXTINCTION, CUTTING EDGE, and EDGEGAMERS and that EA thus could not use the word Edge in the Mirror’s Edge franchise. In August 2010, Edge sought a preliminary injunction preventing EA from using the MIRROR’S EDGE mark. In response, EA presented evidence that Edge had fraudulently obtained registration for the EDGE, THE EDGE, GAMER’S EDGE, and CUTTING EDGE marks and had abandoned the marks by failing to use the marks in commerce. Additionally, EA asserted that Edge’s founder had known about Mirror’s Edge as early as July 2007 and had threatened legal action against EA in 2008, but Edge had not sued or sought injunctive relief until 2010.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Alsup, J.)
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