Tim Langdell, the trademark troll infamous for shaking down anyone who used the word "Edge" in connection to video gaming, is not faring well in Britain's high court. Pursued there by Future Publishing, publishers of Edge Magazine, his antics earned a punishing ruling from presiding judge Sonia Poundman.
John Walker provides an excellent and exhaustive overview of the ruling at Rock Paper Shotgun, but some of the details are too funny not to repeat.
Among the accusations often leveled at Langdell is that he forges materials to give the false impression that others' use of the term "Edge" is imitative of his own designs. In court, Langdell's often-amateurish work did not seem to hold up . For example, when challenged to prove his claim he created the Edge Magazine logo in 1991, he offered a version saved on a computer disk said to be of that age. However….
The disc was too delicate to be shipped to the UK, said Dr Tim. Despite it already having been sent across the Atlantic twice. The court ordered him to send it over. And thus Langdell sent the disc to an expert, Mr Steggles of Disklabs, who verified that the disc was indeed from 1991, and said that in his opinion it was "genuinely created at that time." Surely Langdell was finally onto a winner? Except, well, Future's expert, Mr Dearsley of Kroll Computers, pointed something out. The content had been created by Windows 95.
If you want an idea of how lucrative the business of I.P. trolling is, know that Langdell managed to shake some $300,000 out of Future Publishing over the Edge trademark, before it tired of his subsequent and incessant attempts to associate himself with their magazine's brand.
Similar litigation rolls on here in the U.S., where Electronic Arts (publisher of Mirror's Edge and another shakedownee) and Future Publishing appear to be snarled up in the USPTO's drawn-out trademark cancellation process.
Previously: Judge rules against edgy 'troll' Langdell
