Gibson Guitar has filed a lawsuit against Viacom’s MTV Network, Harmonix and Electronic Arts (EA).

The lawsuit makes the claim that the highly popular video games “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” violate their 1999 patent for technology to simulate a musical performance that Gibson developed.

Activision, one of the main distributors for “Rock Band,” filed a preemptive counter-suit against Gibson early last month declaring that the famous guitar company’s patent should be made invalid by the courts which would prevent the company from seeking future damages.

In response to Gibson’s lawsuit a spokesperson for Harmonix stated that, “This lawsuit is completely without merit and we intend to defend it vigorously.”

Viacom’s MTV is mentioned in Gibson’s suit because it bought “Guitar Hero” from Harmonix.