Variety is reporting that Hasbro has filed a lawsuit against DC over the trademark of Bumblebee.
Hasbro, owner of the Transformers brand, filed a lawsuit on Monday accusing Warner Bros. and DC Comics of trademark infringement. The company is now seeking to block the sales of Mattel’s Bumblebee toy, which is part of the DC Super Hero Girls line of action figures. Hasbro is also concerned about a Bumblebee Lego set.
Bumblebee is one of the central heroes of the Transformers universe. Hasbro says that it began selling Bumblebee toys in 1983, and has been selling building-block toy sets with the Bumblebee brand since 2011. Hasbro touts an online article that ranked Bumblebee fourth on a list of the “Top 25 Transformers.”
DC Comics and Warner Bros. announced the DC Super Hero Girls franchise in April 2015 as a partnership with Mattel. The TV series began airing in October 2015. The series features younger versions of DC superheroes, including Batgirl and Harley Quinn, as they attend high school. The Bumblebee character is a tech wizard with super strength and the ability to shrink.
Currently, a spinoff movie based on Transformers movieverse Bumblebee is being directed by Travis Knight.
G.B. Blackrock
It works on words that are not only common, but have no one else known to claim them. It think that’s the important difference.
lars573
Hasbro has got away with Marvel's *characters name* on a bunch of MU and ML releases. Like Death's head, Beast, Wrecker, Sandman, and Hawkeye. No reason DC's Bumble Bee.
Nevermore
It also does not matter who used it "first", as this is trademark law, not copyright law. In trademark law, consistent use is a deciding factor, not "earliest use". Use it or lose it, basically.
And Hasbro already lost "Bumblebee" once. And people accused them of not properly taking care of their trademark back then. Now Hasbro is properly taking care of its trademark, that's not right either.
stad
They ARE competing products, as they are both toys called "Bumblebee."
It does not matter that neither you or I would mistake them for one another.
Prime135
For the 10th or 11th time it DOES NOT MATTER if they are competing products. It MATTERS that it’s a toy named bumblebee, if it was a car or an electronic device, or a fracking can of tuna it would not matter. The fact that it is a toy (competing or not) means that hasbro is legally required to file a lawsuit or risk losing the trademark on the name.
UltraAlanMagnus
Ace Ventura says hi.
SouthtownKid
And I'm amazed by the people who continue to try to rationalize it by erroneously thinking these are competing products.
GizmoTron
I wouldn't be, it's common for some folks to believe they know everything about everything, especially something that's actually a fair bit more complicated than they realize like trademark laws.
Anyway, Hasbro filed a lawsuit, and then DC and Hasbro settled out of court. And now it's over. Happens all the time in the legal and corporate world, and if it weren't about Bumblebee no one here would have ever known or cared that it happened.
stad
I'm consistently amazed at the number of people here that erroneously think Hasbro is being petty, silly, or just plain stupid for filing this suit, and/or thinks they should lose.
The complete ignorance of trademark law is probably something you should work on, rather than broadcast it to everyone here. The fact that numerous people have come into this thread and explained why Hasbro needed to file this suit, and will likely win (or already have been considered to do so) only makes it that much more amazing.
Megasquared
In related news, Hasbro sues itself over use of the term Nerf Blasters because they thought that consumers would confuse the foam dart guns with the Autobot boombox.
Shepard Prime
1) They have to challenge just to protect their brand because if they don't, it leaves them open to other more serious IP problems down the line.
2) Introduced in 76 but literally barely used until recently while Bumblebee has been in use the entire time Hasbro's had him, heavily at that.
3) Confusing the two. You'd be seriously surprised how often parents incorrectly buy something in a rush because they weren't paying attention. Have you never seen a kid open his present and he asks,"What is this?" only to have the parent reply,"It's Bumblebee."
"No mom, it's not. He doesn't turn into a car."
"Oh, well I thought it was a human character from the movie, not her *actual* name."
Scoff
This reminds of the romance author Faleena Hopkins who tried to trademark the word "cocky" and was rightly criticized and mocked for the attempt by peers and readers alike.
Hasbro, DC's Bumblebee is a black woman and your Bumblebee is a giant robot. If you think people are going to confuse the two, that says a whole lot about what you think about your customers. Even near-sighted elderly grandmothers aren't going to confuse the two.
Furthermore, DC's Bumblebee first appeared in 1976 while your Bumblebee first appeared in 1984.
This is idiotic, this is petty and you deserve to be thoroughly mocked for even trying to do this.
Prime135
A settlement was already reached, and given that the bumblebee film and all related product are still called “bumblebee”, I’d say hasbro “won” if that’s how you want to put it.
And no one person made this decision, it was likely a mandate by hasbro’s legal department in order to not risk losing the trademark for the name bumblebee. If they didn’t defend it, then they’d have no legal standing to do so in the future in other situations.
grimlock1972
I agree with you hasbro has too much cash involved to go any other direction.
I don't recall her real name either but i suppose they could go that way, who knows if they will.
OriginalFire
Whoever decided to do this should be fired, they are gonna loose big time.
UltraPrimal
They can probably just call her BB or something. No, wait! Then Takara will sue them for using their Transformers character name!
BB – Transformers Wiki
G.B. Blackrock
I forget the character's secret identity, but I imagine that DC will use that name. I don't think "Modifier Bumblebee" would work any better than "Autobot Superman" would.
Prime135
I’d guess the first one given that bumblebee is about to get a multimedia marketing blast, and “autobot bumblebee” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue
grimlock1972
I am guessing the DC character will be called DC's Bumblebee or another descriptor from here on out. or Worse case Autobot Bumblebee for hasbro , though i feel that is unlikely.
G.B. Blackrock
I'm sure he WAS trying to joke, but it's not so much that the little detail" "hurts the joke" (at least to me) as that it pushes the "joke" into a mean-spirited dig against Hasbro, and I'm not cool with that.
Your joke here worked much better, although of course it required the context already set up.