Recently, a real-life strip club named PlayPen in East Los Angeles took Rockstar to court over the fictional strip club in GTA: San Andreas, The Pig Pen. The PlayPen believe that the strip club in the game, located in East Los Santos, violates their trademark on the "PlayPen" logo.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the claim last Thursday stating that Rockstar did not violate the PlayPen Gentleman's Club logo. Rockstar did admit that they were inspired by the real-life strip club, hint the fact it is located in the same place in game as it is in real-life. They also argued that that they are protected under the First Amendment.

Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain's ruling was probably one of the best I have ever heard:

"Video games and strip clubs do not go together like a horse and carriage or, perish the thought, love and marriage."

Honestly, suggesting a strip clubs name and logo used in a parodic manner in a game violates the trademarks of the real-life counterpart is a rather far-fetched reason to take a gaming company to court.

Source: MercuryNews