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THQ sues Activision Over Game Packaging

By Chris Bennett, Tudor Carsten, Michael R. Coburn, Sarah Dale-Harris, Pablo Guzman, Danielle (Dani) Lemon, Chris Metcalfe and David Spratley

As first reported by Patent Arcade, THQ has filed suit against Activision Blizzard claiming trade dress and copyright infringement over the box art for Activision's brand new release, "SCORE International Baja 1000". THQ is seeking an injunction against the publisher, alleging that Activision's packaging is identical to that of its own racing game, "Baja Edge of Control", released in September.

Both games are based on the Baja 1000 off-road race that takes place in Baja, Mexico each fall. The covers of both games depict two vehicles, one red and one blue, almost identical in position and perspective.

In its suit filed in California District Court, THQ claims that it has exhausted 'all reasonable efforts to prevail upon Activision to replace the packaging artwork', including contacting Activision on multiple occasions to request that the artwork be changed.

The complaint and a comparison of the two boxes can be found here.

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Full post as published by Video Game Law Blog on October 31, 2008 (boomark / email).