Tim Langdell and Edge Games: Still at It

By: Derek Yu

On: July 15th, 2009

Tim Langdell, Edge Games

I want this image of Tim Langdell’s face to be seared into the hearts and minds of every person who has ever worked hard to create something of personal value. Memorize it. Take in every loathsome detail. But make special note of the smile. That smile… is the smile of a man who has never known the feeling of creating something in any real sense. It’s the smile of a man, or some semblance of one, who instead wants to take that feeling from other people, prying it out of their hands with cease-and-desist letters and other tenuous legal threats so that he may satisfy his own barren womb. Like an aging and desperate Captain Hook, he strangles Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys for some of their pixie dust so that he might feel the feeling of flight.^!

That’s right, Tim Langdell/Edge Games is still threatening game developers over the word “Edge.” Here’s a recap:

1. David Papazian and Mobigame are still being antagonized by Langdell. They’ve received another cease-and-desist from lawyers representing Edge Games¹ and Ninomojo revealed on TIGForums that the iPhone game Edge has been removed from the App Store again.

2. Edge Games is now also targeting another indie iPhone developer who would like to remain anonymous right now (although it shouldn’t be hard to guess what word the game has in its title).²

3. In what appears to be another preemptive move by Langdell, Edge Games obtained a trademark for “Edge of Twilight” on June 1st, which is the name of an upcoming game for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.³ Fuzzyeyes third-person action/platform game has been around since at least 2007.⁴

4. Tim Langdell is, of course, still on the Board of Directors at the IGDA. But I’m honestly going to start leaving this fact out as it’s still not obvious to me what the IGDA accomplishes beyond insulting the very people who the organization should be helping. Seriously, if you’re unhappy with the IGDA, stop yelling at a brick wall (that occasionally insults you) and just drop your membership when the time comes. Then start or join an unaffiliated online community or a local game development group in your city.

To address the question of “how does he get away with it,” well, as far as I know there’s nothing illegal about sending people cease-and-desist letters. I’ve never really doubted that what Tim is doing is legal. But is it necessary? No, it’s clear to me that there would be very little confusion over whether any of these games came from Edge Games. And in my opinion it is a serious abuse of laws that are meant to promote growth and innovation by protecting creators… what I see here is the opposite.

By the way, I’m compiling a centralized page of information regarding Tim and Edge Games here on TIGSource, including quotes from various developers who claim to have worked with Tim. If you have any more information or can help verify some of this stuff, please post here in the comments or e-mail me. Obviously first-person source material is the best.

The more successful Tim is, the harder it is for the next guy or gal who has the misfortune of having to deal with him. So don’t forget that face. As painful a prospect as it might seem.

¹ Fingergaming, “Edge Trademark War Continues On Multiple Fronts”
² Fingergaming, “Edge Trademark War Continues On Multiple Fronts”
³ Kotaku, “Trademark Troll Is at It Again”
⁴ YouTube, Edge of Twilight Trailer
^!These are strictly opinions of the author and should not be construed as fact.

Posted in Business, Community, Developers | Tags: Edge, EdgeGames, Mobigame, TimLangdell

Trotim

Take him down! Where’s the Duke when you need him?
ffs

He is a parasitic tapeworm. I’m quitting IGDA and I suggest to anyone else that while this joker is on the board, or associated in anyway with the association, that they do the same.
David Stoner

@Eclipse

I answered his question.
maanto

Well said on point #4, Derek.
That’s actually part of the reason that I finally canceled my IGDA membership and made my first post on the boards.

I sincerely hope this guy stops pestering people with unfounded legal cases.
qwack

@ Sens. Winning a court case doesn’t mean you get your legal fees back. Corporations win many legal battles with smaller businesses simply because they simply draw out the proceedings. Langdell could keep EA in litigation for decades. You don’t get your money back when you win. Lawyers still cost money out of your pocket.
JR

I don’t mean this to sound callous, but why didn’t Fuzzyeyes trademark their game’s title? _Anyone_ could have come in and grabbed the trademark before Tim; He just happened to be the first one prickish enough to do it.
TheBoyMadeOfSnot

Actually Fuzzyeyes have trademarked Edge Of Twighlight, more than a year before Landgell.

IP Australia

Enter as a guest and plug in 1229650 at the bottom or search for edge and twilight.

Any law firm with more than a few days experience would be able to see that `ol wonky face is clearly registering trademarks to deceive and / or create branding confusion, I wonder why nobody has sent him a cease and desist?
mewse

Trademarks are expensive enough that it’s often difficult for an independent developer to justify the cost. In general, it costs about $300 to file a trademark in the US, and a lot more if you haven’t actually started selling using that trademark yet.

Registering a trademark in the US is not enough, though, of course. You must also register in the EU to be covered there, and that costs about $2000. You must also register in Australia/New Zealand to be covered there (also about $300 per trademark). You must also register in… you get the idea. The cost is prohibitive for someone who isn’t already making a lot of income.
Oddball

You cannot defend a trademark against a brand that existed before your trademark claim. Edge of Twilight is perfectly safe as it was well known before Tim’s trademark was registered. Also, defending a trademark for a brand that doesn’t exist for the sole purpose of extracting money is the criminal act of extortion. It has many presedents in law already, with Leo Stoller probably being the most high profile. If anyone is affected by Tim’s vexatious litigation then they should contact the trademark regulators as he should be investigated.
Mulder

I typed Timothy Langdell into an anagram engine, and guess what I got?

Hated Tingly Moll!

Says it all, doesn’t it?
Synnah

This article is currently on the first page of Google results for “edge games” (And the second page if you omit the quotes). This is definitely a good thing.
O

JR: Trademark registration, like copyright registration, isn’t necessary if you’re legitimately in the right. Langdell plays this game because because his bread and butter is intimidation and settlement, which works because few people understand their real rights.
Sens

*Winning a court case doesnâ€™t mean you get your legal fees back. Corporations win many legal battles with smaller businesses simply because they simply draw out the proceedings. Langdell could keep EA in litigation for decades. You donâ€™t get your money back when you win. Lawyers still cost money out of your pocket.*

Then you should be really more proactive in changing the law in your country. If i go to court because somebody sues me in my country and i win. I get all my expenses back.
RayRayTea

Hehe Langdell looks like a baby compared to that Stoller guy.
Karyu

You know it seems to me that Tim went for his position in the IGDA just so he had an easier way of finding indie games using his “trademark”

At least thats the impression I’m getting, not sure if/how you can being part of this association though.

I’ve been following this story now for a while, thanks to this site and its really one of the most interesting developments in gaming I’ve read for a long time.

What this guy is doing may not be completely against the law, but its stretching it to breaking point as he basically takes advantage of it not in a defensive way (which is how it should be) but as a full on attack at anyone and everyone just so he can make some money.

He is a disgusting person and puts my country to shame. I really hope that someone manages not only to sort him out but truely humiliates him and destroys his reputation.

*calms down* ah, that felt good
Mark

What about AT&T, they have a whole EDGE network…

For those that wanted to use EDGE, but cannot because of this gent, here are some other words you could use.

http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/edge

Thanks for the hard work
Frogglehorn

The IGDA provides little to no value for the subscription fee they charge. If this were an MMO, it would have been canceled long ago. It’s no wonder its board is home to the utmost douchiest.
Derek

TheBoyMadeOfSnot (#57) pointed out that Fuzzyeyes did trademark “Edge of Twilight” before Langdell. Sorry, it got caught in the spam filter.
http://news.bigdownload.com James M

The wonders of the digital age. Information at your fingertips and a fucker abusing trademark law. It’s good to live in the present, eh?
Paul Sinnett

The membership of IGDA are collecting names of members to hold a special meeting to vote on removing him from the board:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=68SOsjTK_2f9qJvOQ_2b2Zw7_2fA_3d_3d

Please note that this is only for members with voting rights.

We’ll need about 1,200 so, if you’re a member, please add your name and membership number. Or if you know a member, please draw their attention to the debate and ask them to add their name too.

http://kotaku.com/5317360/effort-begun-to-remove-trademark-troll-from-igda-board
Shigi

Derek, that first paragraph was one of the most awesome paragraphs I’ve ever read.

Thankfully, I think there’s definitely something illegal about his behavior. When you register for a trademark you have to specify whether you’re actually using your mark in commerce now, or whether you’re merely intending to use it later. But if you’re intending to use that trademark in the future for a product, that intention has to be legitimate… and that’s where the violation occurs:

(from the US Trademark and Patent Office)
“The lack of a bona intention to use the mark with all goods and/or services included in an application, or the lack of use on all goods and/or services for which you claim use, could jeopardize the validity of the registration and result in its cancellation.”

He’s essentially defending a trademark for a brand that doesnâ€™t exist for the sole purpose of extracting money… that’s extortion, and it’s very illegal. I really hope that he is investigated, because what he’s doing is abhorrent, and I too am appalled that such a man managed to make it onto the board of the IGDA.
Shigi

Oh I forgot to mention… Leo Stoller is a great example of someone who severely abused the trademark system and was subsequently sanctioned. What he did is exactly the same thing that Tim is doing: Registering trademarks in bad faith. There’s even a Society for the Prevention of Trademark Abuse. Perhaps they might be able to help out.
dude

There is nothing wrong with protecting a mark.

But trying to own “EDGE” in games? That is kind of silly… legally silly.
Leo

Mark said:
*For those that wanted to use EDGE, but cannot because of this gent, here are some other words you could use.*

Oh yeah. I’m totally using Butt to name my games instead of Edge.
Butt of Twilight. That gonna be a blockbuster.
Tim Langdell

I, Tim Langdell, hereby announce my intention to run for President of the World.
Now What?

EDGE, EDGE,EDGE, EDGE, EDGE, EDGE, EDGE, EDGE, EDGE, EDGE, EDGE, EDGE, EDGE, EDGE…..

Sue me!