Atari Goes After Target With New Lawsuit Over 'Foot Pong' Game

Atari has officially declared war on Target over "an obvious, deliberate copy" of their famous Pong game when the retailer debuted their own version with Foot Pong.

The Blast recently obtained copies of the court document laying out the recent lawsuit where Atari is attacking the likeness of Target's game to their own. "Visually, Target's Foot Pong is virtually identical in overall look and feel to the original Pong," Atari claims. "Practically, the only difference between Foot Pong and Pong is that, in the former, players use their feet rather than hands and the game is projected onto the floor rather than through a television or mobile device screen."

The company also mentions that they have sent out several cease-and-desist letters to Target, but to no avail. Atari is even claiming that a Target lawyer sent back a simply message "expressly stating that Target would not deviate from its planned use through March 2019."

Since Target is profiting off of Foot Pong, Atari is seeking legal action to protect their property. They even mentioned that the retailer "has profited from Foot Pong by attracting customers to Target stores, keeping customers in Target stores where they spend additional money, and generating positive word-of-mouth and goodwill for Target."

As for the lawsuit itself, the basis covers both trademark infringement and counterfeiting in addition to copyright infringement. Since they own the sole rights to this trademark, it's a pretty cut and dry case and could end up costing Target $150,000 per copyright infringement and a whopping 2 million for each registered trademark violated.

So far, Target has not issued a statement regarding the legal action.

What do you think about Atari's decision to go after Target? Do you think Target could have handled the situation better? Join in on the conversation in the comment section below or hit me up over on Twitter @DirtyEffinHippy!