Mobigame to pull Edgy amid EA legal fears

Mobigame will pull its iPhone title Edgy from the App Store because of an ongoing trademark dispute between EA and Tim Langdell, Develop understands.

Mobigame re-released its debut game – Edge – on the App Store this week, in a move that seemingly marked the conclusion of a protracted and controversial legal matter.

It was the third time the game’s code has gone up on Apple’s online portal; all in slightly different names due to Mobigame’s legal opponent Tim Langdell, who – pending ongoing legal matters – currently owns the Edge trademark. [Timeline].

But though Langdell has sent to Mobigame what had seemed like an amicable settlement agreement, Mobigame has decided it will take the game down again, because the developer fears Langdell will use the legal precedent in his assault against EA.

According to an extensive email correspondence between various parties – which Develop has seen a copy of – Mobigame’s co-founder David Papazian fears that Langdell is trying to retroactively claim ownership on Mobigame’s Edge before it was rebranded Edgy.

“We believe [Langdell] is trying to use us against EA and other companies to claim that he sold an iPhone game,” read one email. “In these conditions [Mobigame has] no other choice than pulling the version of the game named Edgy for the US/UK.”

Mobigame see that changing the name of their game to Edgy “is sending the wrong signal, and gives the wrong impression that Tim Langdell has won the battle against independent developers.”

EA is currently aiming to legally dismantle Langdell’s ownership of the Edge trademark, claiming that the former IGDA board member has not produced any meaningful content in a number of years, and thus, is holding onto a dormant trademark. Langdell disagrees.

This legal assault from one of the world’s biggest publishers occurred after a trademark dispute surrounding EA’s recent title, Mirror’s Edge. Now EA is looking to release Mirror’s Edge on the App Store, a move that will force Apple to either support or oppose Langdell’s operation, and perhaps deliver closure to what has become a complex and bitter legal affair.

But the consequence of Mobigame having to change the name of its game for a second (and possibly third) time could work in Langdell’s favour, giving him ammunition to claim that Edge remains a relevant trademark.

Richard Hall-Whittall, the founder of indie dev association Indievision, said it was very interested to see Apple’s next move in regards to the iPhone edition of Mirror’s Edge.

“Will they set different rules for EA than those they set in the Mobigame (and Killer Edge Racing) dispute,” he asked.

“We are yet again appalled by the recent comments from Langdell and are very keen to see a final – positive – resolution to this whole affair.”

The cited legal disputes continue.