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Hasbro Interactive Reaches Settlement In Infringement Case
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 Hasbro Interactive has reached a settlement with two defendants in an intellectual property suit involving several of its games. Acknowledging Hasbro Interactive's rights to games such as CENTIPEDE, MISSILE COMMAND, PAC-MAN and TETRIS, GT Interactive and Varcon Systems have agreed to cease sales of titles based on these and other properties Hasbro Interactive owns or licenses. "Creativity and innovation form the cornerstone of the interactive entertainment industry, making the protection of intellectual property critical to the success of all publishers and developers," commented Hasbro Interactive President Tom Dusenberry. "Hasbro has a long history of building great game brands. This suit is aimed at ensuring we can continue to deliver the high-quality, high-value games that consumers have come to expect from Hasbro Interactive. If we succeed, our development and licensing partners succeed and, ultimately, the game consumer wins." Hasbro Interactive is continuing to pursue the suit against eGames, Webfoot, MVP Software, and Xtreme Games. "We hope that these companies will begin to turn their attention to creating new games, rather than trying to emulate games owned and already being developed by others," Dusenberry added. "When you look at our games and their games side by side, there's no doubt that the defendants have copied the creative expression of the Atari games, not just abstract ideas." Under the terms of the settlement, GT Interactive will cease the sales of "Mac-Man," "Munch Man," "Munch Man II," "Macman Deluxe," "Patriot Command," "Bricklayer," "Tetri-Madness," "Chomper," and "Missile Defender," among others. Although eGames remains a defendant in the suit, GT Interactive has agreed to stop distribution of the eGames titles that are subject to the litigation, including: "Intergalactic Exterminator," "3D Astro Blaster," "TetriMania," "TetriMania Master," "3D Maze Man," "Tunnel Blaster," "3D Chomper," "Missile Launch," and "3D TetriMania." The settlement also requires GT Interactive to pay an undisclosed amount of money to Hasbro Interactive. Varcon Systems has agreed to stop selling its titles named in the suit, including: "Patriot Command," "Hemiroids," "Bricklayer," "Mac-Man," and "Munch-Man." Hasbro Interactive acquired the rights to many Atari properties for the home consumer market in 1998. Since then, Hasbro Interactive has released new, 3D interactive versions of CENTIPEDE and MISSILE COMMAND, as well as a compilation of the original, 2D games, ATARI ARCADE HITS. Atari Interactive is a subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive, Inc. Hasbro Interactive has also released a new 3D version of TETRIS, called THE NEXT TETRIS, for the PC and PlayStation game console. This year, Hasbro Interactive will be releasing a 3D PAC-MAN game for the PC with all-new environments and levels. [Updated 4/19/2000]
  
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