Activision Blizzard vs. AM General

The HMMWV, initially developed as a military vehicle, became famous under the name Hummer with celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger driving the off road car.

General Motors stopped the sales of civil Hummer cars long ago, but manufacturer AM General is still building the HMMWV (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) for military sales. AM General also owns the design and brand trademarks.

Now AM General is taking computer game publisher Activision Blizzard to court. The game series „Call of Duty“ features the cars, nicknamed „Humvee“, without Activision Blizzard being a licensee of AM General.

If AM General wins the court case, this will result in a huge financial damage for Activision Blizzard. Eight volumes of the successful games series have to be recalled from retail shelves in the worst case scenario. Furthermore, AM General is claiming damages for unpaid royalties. And authorities might impose a fine, of course. From the initial start of the series until end of 2016, the sales figure for “Call Of Duty” reached the 250 Million mark.