IGDA Revokes Langdell's Membership In Wake of Edge Trademark Ruling

The International Game Developers Association announced today that it has revoked the membership of controversial Edge Games founder and former IGDA board member Tim Langdell. According to a post on the IGDA blog, the organization's board of directors voted to cancel Langdell's membership based on Article III Section 6(b) of their bylaws, which states that membership can be revoked by the board if "the Member has demonstrated a lack of integrity or unethical behavior." The decision comes in the wake of a decision by Northern California District Court Judge Willam Alsup cancelling Langdell's claim to a number of trademarks related to the term "Edge" "The record contains numerous items of evidence that plaintiff wilfully committed fraud against the USPTO in obtaining and/or maintaining registrations for many of the asserted 'EDGE' marks, possibly warranting criminal penalties if the misrepresentations prove true," Alsup wrote in an earlier decision rejecting Langdell's request for a preliminary injunction against EA's marketing of Mirror's Edge. That ruling also determined that "it is an open question whether plaintiff's business activities legitimately extend beyond trolling various gaming-related industries for licensing opportunities." Langdell resigned from the IGDA's board of directors last August, after less than six months at the position, amid controversy over threatened trademark and legal action against a number of game-related projects which used the term "Edge."