EA Sports Active 2.0 target of trademark lawsuit

Later this year, Electronic Arts plans to lace up its sneakers again and take its hit fitness game online with EA Sports Active 2.0 for the Wii, PlayStation 3, and iPhone. Not everyone is happy about the news, as the La Jolla, California-based Active Network filed suit against the publisher last week to prevent the game's release.

According to a copy of the suit obtained by GameSpot, The Active Network is claiming that EA Sports Active 2.0 will infringe on its trademark rights. The company claims it has the rights to the word "Active" in connection with "providing information regarding the scheduling of participatory sports and recreational activities and sporting events; sports training services, namely, providing personal training schedules and programs." The company has been using the term since 1999 and has a registered trademark on it dating back to the middle of 2008.

The Active Network says it offers a number of services through its Active.com Web site, including online creation of exercise programs, personal fitness chat rooms, and online tracking for workout activity, calories, heart rate, and weight, among other things. The company says EA Sports Active 2.0 will perform many (if not all) of the same functions, making it a direct competitor. The complaint acknowledges that EA created two previous EA Sports Active games for the Wii, but notes that those titles did not incorporate online features.

The suit requests that a judge prevent EA from releasing or promoting any game with such online features that uses the term "Active." The Active Network is also seeking punitive damages believed to be more than $75,000, as well as attorney's fees.

An EA representative had not returned a request for comment as of press time.