Hasbro Joins the Lawsuit-Happy Bandwagon
If you can’t compete, sue. If you can’t profit independently, sue. Maybe Apple too, can squeeze a few more dollars into the coffer by suing companies that copy their sue-happy business model? Watch out, Hasbro! Personally, I think the author of the article below and Hasbro have had a bit too much “holiday” eggnog.
If Hasbro really thinks this tenuous of a lawsuit has merit, I know quite a few anime concepts that predate the Transformers that would like to have word with them in court.
Call me naive, but I just assumed that when Asus showed off a device called the Transformer Prime, they had some sort of deal to license or at least provide some kind of royalty to the Transformers franchise. Apparently not, as Hasbro has just filed a lawsuit alleging that Asus is infringing on the Transformers trademark.
Now, if the device were just called the Transformer, I think I would come down on Asus’ side here. After all, transform is a common word and although it may recall to mind certain memories from the 80s (and, to a lesser extent, the last few years), it is just a word and it also describes the transforming capacity of the device. But then they had to go and call it the Prime. What’s next, Soundwave speakers? A Bumblebee netbook?
