A smackdown has become more likely than a settlement in a long-running licensing tussle between video game publisher THQ Inc. and World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.
THQ and toymaker Jakks Pacific Inc. have been embroiled in a legal battle with WWE since 2004. Prospects of a settlement were all but wiped out in January after the fifth meeting between the companies ended without an agreement. WWE is suing both companies seeking release from its toy and video game licensing agreements and asking for monetary damages while making accusations of racketeering, bribery, extortion and various anti-trust practices against the L.A. companies.
The WWE franchise accounted for almost 20 percent of THQ’s revenue last year, so the suit’s outcome will be significant for the Calabasas-based video game publisher.
“We believe that WWE would prefer to license to Electronic Arts,” wrote Bank of America analyst Gary Cooper. EA is the industry leader in sports video games.
“Loss of the WWE license would materially reduce THQ’s operating profits,” Cooper continued. “However, the case continues to drag.” A New York State judge will determine this week if the trial will proceed as a federal case.
All three companies seem willing to continue paying the legal fees for three sets of lawyers as the suit enters its second year, still in the “pre-trial” phase.
THQ spokeswoman Liz Pieri said that so far, the costs of the suit “have not been material” to the company’s bottom line. “We work very hard to control all of our outside legal expenditures, and the WWE lawsuit is no exception,” she wrote in an e-mail.
Follow My Lead
L.A.-based LeadPoint Inc., a “lead-exchange marketplace,” secured $2 million in Series B funding from Redpoint Ventures.
The company has created a marketplace for the buying and selling of leads those pesky little forms you fill out on the Web every time you want information from a site.
“If you’re cruising around the Web and you’re at a site whether it’s a brand name or a mom and pop they’re going to have a little Web form. Once you fill that out, you become a lead,” said Marc Diana, co-founder and chief executive of Brentwood-based LeadPoint. There are plenty of companies willing to pay for your information, and LeadPoint allows it to go to the highest bidder.
The company is initially offering mortgage- and debt-related leads, but plans to expand into other areas of financial services this year. Focusing on the mortgage and debt markets means the leads being swapped range from “people with homes in California looking to borrow a million dollars,” or “people with $20,000 of credit card debt who can’t make their payments,” Diana said.
Lead-based marketing has achieved prominence on the Web. Online ad network giant ValueClick Inc. has made a business out of lead generation, enabling marketers to develop proprietary, permission-based lists of consumers.
Web Reality
Mark Burnett Productions, creator of the hit reality TV series “Survivor,” is teaming with America Online Inc. to produce an exclusively Web-streamed reality show. “Gold Rush!” will follow challengers searching for hidden treasure across the United States. Clues for the show will be imbedded throughout AOL’s network. Culver City-based AOL Productions, the company’s entertainment production studio, has been expanding over the past few months. The partnership advances the idea that the Internet will become the next broadcast network.
*Staff Reporter Hilary Potkewitz can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 22,6 or at
[email protected]
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