BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Gibson Guitar Inc. filed a lawsuit against games retailers MTV Games, Harmonix and Electronic Arts relating to the wildly popular "Guitar Hero" video games, according to media reports Monday.

Gibson claimed Friday that by developing, distributing and promoting the video game "Rock Band," these retailers are violating a virtual-reality patent the guitar maker holds.

The same 1999 patent is at issue in a separate lawsuit Gibson filed earlier last week against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and five other retailers. The real-guitar maker claims the stores are violating the patent by selling the Activision Inc. game "Guitar Hero."

The "Guitar Hero" series has sold more than 14 million units in North America and raked in more than 1 billion U.S. dollars since 2005.

Gibson said the games, in which players use a guitar-shaped controller in time with notes on a television screen, violate a 1999 patent for technology to simulate a musical performance.

Gibson informed Activision Inc. about two weeks ago that its popular "Guitar Hero" video games infringe one of the guitar maker's patents.

Activision filed later a lawsuit asking the U.S. District Court for Central California to declare Gibson's patent invalid and to bar it from seeking damages.

A copy of Gibson's patent included in the court filing showed a method for simulating a live performance using a musical instrument, a 3D headset with stereo speakers, and a pre-recorded concert.