On April 17, 2009 Taser International Inc. (“Taser”) filed a lawsuit against Linden Research Inc. and others containing various claims including trademark-infringement, trade dress infringement, trademark dilution, design patent infringement, unfair competition and RICO violations involving unauthorized sales of virtual versions of Taser’s electric stun guns in Second Life. The suit is entitled Taser International Inc. v. Linden Research Inc., 2:09-cv-00811, and is venued in the U.S. District Court, District of Arizona (Phoenix).

In the complaint, which is more than 100 pages including exhibits, Taser claims Linden Research Inc. and a host of individuals and entities related to Linden Lab including its founder and Chairman Philip Rosedale, as well as its CEO, Mark Kingdon, and CFO, John Zdanowski, are engaging in conduct which is damaging to Taser’s reputation and hurting its sales.

The complaint alleges that Linden and others such as Virtualtrade LLC, are “selling virtual weaponry in a fully fledged copy of plaintiff’s real ones for use in the Second Life computer simulation,”. Taser says the alleged infringement is especially harmful because the online stores selling the virtual versions also sell pornographic and drug related content.

This is an interesting suit since it is the first time a major company has sued Linden Lab for infringement which occurred in Second Life. I have been expecting a suit if this type to be filed for some time now so it will be worth watching. Moreover, because the claims raised by Taser are not based in copyright law, Linden Lab will most likely not be able to base its defense on compliance with the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.