Automotive Manufacturers Pursue Action against Driving Empire for Infringement of Intellectual Property: AN INSIDER LOOK

By THE INSIDER LOOK Team
Reported on 1st of September | 125k+ views

Background: In a past controversy, Driving Empire has been called out for implementing loot-boxes, which act as a form of gambling, making it outlawed in several countries including China, The Netherlands, and Belgium. As a result, car manufacturers have taken interest in the activities of Driving Empire and have taken action against Driving Empire for the infringement of intellectual property, which resulted in mass removals and refunds for the content removed. The team behind this game is Voldex, which purchased the game from its previous owner, Bourgist. The Insider Look has obtained exclusive statements from these car manufacturers on this issue.

Screenshot of Driving Empire's Crate System. This has caused anger and controversy amongst players of Driving Empire and is the heavily speculated reason for removal of vehicles.

Screenshot of Driving Empire's Crate System. Two rare cars surround one common car, giving the impression of being very close to winning.

THE CONTROVERSY

Back when Driving Empire introduced loot-boxes, the player base went crazy. The result of this was people messaging different automotive manufacturers to take action against Driving Empire for using their models in-game. That time has passed, but it seems the issue has resurfaced once again. The abundant number of manufacturers taking action is staggering. The Insider Look has been watching this very closely and have been in contact with several car manufacturers to navigate the current situation.

The main reason for the removal of the car models from Driving Empire seem to stem from infringement of Intellectual Property. This refers to designs, trademarks, and patents owned by the respective brands, and unlicensed to Driving Empire. Various takedowns and notices have been posted to Voldex Inc. (Driving Empire's Development Company) to remove the infringed intellectual property from the game.

The fact that Driving Empire has introduced loot-boxes has zero consideration from any manufacturer we have spoken to thus far. The mechanisms may have been mentioned but are in no part the reason for taking action against the infringement of intellectual property by Driving Empire.

CRATE SYSTEM

The crate system implemented in Driving Empire is of huge controversy. There are two crates, one paid with Robux and one with in-game money. The Robux option will cost around $8 US Dollars / € 7.4 Euro. These crates give players the chance to win multiple cars, but as with all gambling mechanisms, they function in a way that keeps players spending. These crates give out a bad car (1-3 stars) but surround good cars (4-5 stars) around the bad car to give players the feeling of nearly winning.

Furthermore, Driving Empire is currently rated for "All Ages" on Roblox, citing ethical concerns for children who can easily be taunted to spend a massive amount of money on these crates. Roblox themselves have stated that gambling mechanisms are prohibited, and Driving Empire seems to cross the line into breaking those rules.

LICENSING

When it comes to requesting and obtaining the rights to use the intellectual property of manufacturers, this is usually done through licensing. Although the way in which licensing works is usually kept in the dark from the public, it can be assumed to be in the hundreds of thousands, scaling in terms of exposure and growth of a specific game. This is an approach that Driving Empire or other games in-general can take to secure the legal use of intellectual property and to avoid legal action.

DEVELOPER RESPONSE

The result of these actions by different car manufacturers saw refunds issued by Voldex as an apology for having had to remove these cars. While players are left wondering why this has resurfaced, we have been in contact with car manufacturers to find out the details and statements they have made in this matter. The Insider Look has reached out to Voldex/Driving Empire and we did not receive any comment on this matter, even after contacting them for several days.

THE INSIDER LOOK INVESTIGATES

We have learned a lot about the developments of this story from both the community as well as car manufacturers. We have obtained insights and exclusive statements for the public from car manufacturers, and we will break it all down brand-by-brand to give readers an insight into the behind the scenes.

We must emphasize that this article is to be continued, with further edits added as we receive news from spokespersons in different car companies. We have received news from other spokespersons, however, as to not jeopardize this investigation and their actions (if any), we will not report on this until all is done.

Audi AG

Audi is a member/subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. A notable sibling of Audi is Lamborghini, which has taken action against Driving Empire in the past.

Unlike the other manufacturers in this article, Audi's intellectual property extends to the Audi logo, which was seen removed from the game before the vehicles themselves.

During the initial review itself, Audi was made aware of the various trademarks belonging to Audi, being used in Driving Empire. When asked for a comment, Audi's Communications Team provided us with the following on behalf of Audi AG:

"We have checked the matter and confirm infringement of our IP by the game "Driving Empire" on Roblox. Therefore, we will initiate effective measures to stop such infringement." - Audi AG

With that initial statement made, we worked with Audi on this matter and as things progressed, we received confirmation that Audi has taken action against Driving Empire. Audi has provided us with the following statement:

"The game "Driving Empire" on Roblox clearly infringed trademarks and designs of Audi. After taken concrete measures against those infringements Roblox has deleted all relevant content in the game. In addition, we have established a sustainable monitoring solution to detect possible further trademark and design infringements at an early stage and to take action against them. In general: many of our Audi models have an iconic character – for us and for our customers. It is therefore a matter of course for us to protect the valuable intellectual property associated with it and to prevent any misuse." - Audi AG Spokesperson

While initially Audi only removed brand logos, the company was quick in their response to further their actions for full removal. This shows the vast effectiveness and responsiveness of Audi as a leading car manufacturer in the luxury-sports car brands.

BMW Group (BMW / Rolls Royce)

Lotus Cars is a medium sized automotive manufacturer based in Britain. Following the notification that Lotus has been made aware of the infringement of intellectual property belonging to Lotus in Driving Empire, The Insider Look reached out for additional comments.

Although Lotus has declined to comment further, we worked decisively with them in this matter and eventually saw Lotus being removed from Driving Empire.

Lotus Cars Limited

Although Lotus has declined to comment further, we worked decisively with them in this matter and eventually saw Lotus being removed from Driving Empire.

CONCLUSION

The community will be saddened to see the loved content removed, however, the unethical practices of Voldex have prompted the response of car manufacturers, who reserve the absolute legal right to protect and defend their intellectual property, the sole representation of their brand, especially under the circumstances of a controversial game. The only proper way to obtain rights to use manufacturers' models in-game is to contact them through their licensing departments.

With the amount of resurfaced controversy, it can be assumed that manufacturers will continue to pursue legal action in order to cease the infringement of intellectual property in games such as Driving Empire.

We work around the clock with these manufacturers to get the latest details, but to adhere to ethical standards of journalism, we guarantee confidentiality and off-the-record talks with these companies to continuously provide readers of The Insider Look the latest developments in this matter when everything is ready.

*This article will be periodically updated when we finish our communications with the manufacturers.

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CREDITS

Roger Vontalez - Majority Contributor and Researcher

Roblox Twitter Community (RTC) - Distribution

Car Manufacturers; Audi and Lotus - Spokesperson Statements and their trust in our reporting and confidentiality

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