Buying your rival's development team for the sole purpose of delaying their game -- that would be a pretty clever trick.

But Activision Publishing today denied Genius Products' allegations that their purchase of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ developer 7 Studios had anything to do with an attempt to promote their own upcoming DJ Hero ahead of the competing product.

"These allegations are nothing more than an attempt by Genius to place blame for the game's delay, as well as to divert attention from the cash flow, liquidity and revenue challenges Genius detailed in its March 30, 2009, SEC filing," Activision told gaming press in a statement on Thursday.

While we don't have the financial background to decipher the full SEC filing mentioned, related filings show that Genius' stock was delisted from the OTCBB on Dec. 24, and that the company underwent considerable financial restructuring late last year to deal with millions in debt. In other words, Activision's scenario is also plausible.

According to the press release, the court is in Activision's favor thus far:

The L.A. Superior Court found that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Activision and refused to grant any restraining order against Activision.

What do you think? Is Activision having 7 Studios withhold Ultimate DJ assets? Or is this lawsuit actually Genius Products trying to cover up for their own delay?