RedOctane trying to settle Guitar Hero suits

In August, Guitar Hero publisher RedOctane and parent-company Activision filed suit against The Ant Commandos, makers of an unlicensed line of peripherals for the hit rhythm game, alleging a number of trademark infringements. The Ant Commandos fired right back with a countersuit alleging that RedOctane swiped the official Guitar Hero peripheral's design from its parent company's "Magical Guitar" controller, released years earlier for Konami's Guitar Freaks line of games.

However, what had the potential to be an unruly mess on par with anything related to the Sex Pistols could be ending early with nary an amp smashed, nor a bass drum kicked in. According to a court filing last week, the judge in the case granted a request by both parties that their arguments in the case be delayed while they try to hammer out a compromise.

"The parties are currently negotiating a potential settlement of this matter and have a reasonable, good faith belief that settlement may be reached within the next seven to ten days," the companies wrote in their joint motion, filed on October 26.

Representatives for RedOctane had not returned GameSpot's requests for comment as of press time, but a rep with The Ant Commandos said there was no settlement at this time, and declined to comment further.