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LucasFilm Sues Jedi Mind Over 'Jedi'
An anonymous reader writes "Apparently the force is strong with LucasFilm's legal department, as they've sued the company Jedi Mind for trademark infringement and breach of contract, among other things. While LucasFilm doesn't actually own a trademark on 'Jedi,' it claims that its related marks are close enough, and that Jedi Mind had agreed last year to phase out the use of 'Jedi' in its name and product names."
He's using Lucas' neologism to specifically call attention to the similarities between his products and the abilities of the characters that the neologism belongs to. Is there any way in which this is not a textbook correct application of trademarks?
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
There is no trial.
Further, trademarks are use-them-or-lose-them: if they don't defend it from "Jedi Mind", then they'll lose the ability to stop OfficialJediJailbailSlutsInYourZipCode.com from appropriating it too.
I'm sure "Jedi Mind's" products are really neat, but if so, they can survive on their own merits, with their own original name, rather than piggybacking on Lucas' creation. Trademarks are not patents, and you don't break Wheaton's Law by having and defending them.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Is now an enemy of my intellectual property!
Do what must be done!
I am guessing this what George felt when he typed Jedi and into Google and Star Wars or George Lucas we're not the first results to come up! Then he summoned all the power of the force ( herein known as George's legal team ) ( He tried to rally the Sand People as they are always willing to fight , but they said they couldn't help due to being written out of the last 5 of George's movies ) to help battle back against those that would rebel against the good of the force ( also known as George's profit margin ) But you can't blame the guy...it has been a great cash cow and one hell of a legacy he left behind from that first movie in the sci fi genre
wasnt it just yesterday that we had some crap come out of riaa ? today this. tomorrow something else. these do NOT work.
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These are not the trademarks you are looking for.
There is no Jedi.
The Jedi is a lie.
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
How did they alter anything? I'm pretty sure the same basic trademark law was in effect all the way back to Episode 4.
And it's no different from any other trademark. Just as you don't just use Apple's trademarks to sell, say, "iPod tyres" (pun on the iPod wheel, see?), or Nintendo's to sell a "Wii exercise machine" (that actually doesn't connect to a Wii), or Kraft Foods' trademark to sell something like "Cadbury chocolate flavoured condoms", or IBM's to sell something like "PowerPC dildo deluxe", you don't get to use Lucas's trademark to sell your gimmick input controller either. It's that simple.
And Lucas even invented the word. It's not as if I trademarked Pencil and started suing pencil makers. There is pretty much no way to accidentally name your product Jedi, you know, totally without trying to piggyback on Lucas's mindshare.
Honestly, it looks to me like textbook application of trademark law, as it was intended to work all along. You know, since the Trade Mark Registration Act of 1875 in the UK. Unless you want to tell me that Lucas invented a time machine to alter _that_ one, I seriously don't see how they altered any situation.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Fuck You ®
Should be "LucasFilm Jedi Mind Sues", surely?
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
I assume the only reason why Lucas doesn't own the trademark to 'Jedi' is because someone else beat Lucas to the post & managed to trademark the word already. In which case shouldn't they be suing Lucas? Maybe Lucas had to buy a license to 'Jedi' in the 1st place
George Lucas reputedly loves all those fan films and Lego Star Wars characters. At the same time, the Lucas companies must sue trademark infringers now and then if they want to retain their trademarks.
But, as I learned some years ago while defusing a DMCA complaint against a SourceForge project that had some Lucas IP in it, if you *ask Lucasfilm politely* for permission to use their trademarks, they'll probably give it to you -- and probably won't want any money if you're a small-timer.
...connection to the brand, as is the case...
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
The word 'Jedi' has become a part of the American culture and LucasFilms Ltd is in danger of it becoming generic. Jedi Mind has to convince the judge that this is true and it would alter the course of battle...
It takes something of an imbecile to not realize that Lucas would go after him after using the word Jedi. Anyone who would use the word in that context knows exactly that they are referencing the Jedi depicted in Star Wars movies, books, comic books, video games, cartoons, TV series and probably breakfast cereals. (* Silly Sith! Mind tricks are for Jedis! *) There are plenty of other words he could have used that would have been just as good or even better. And when I went to the company's site, I saw a video that depicted a computer input system that, while seemingly impressive, cannot possibly do exactly what it says it does. Tracking head movement? Yeah, I'm down with that. Tracking eye movement and blinking? Pretty damned cool. "Think left, Think right?" I'm more than a little skeptical on that notion. Sounds like the early days of voice recognition 20 years ago and we STILL don't have that right.
I usually side with the other guy on various issues when it comes to Darth Lucas, but in this case, no... not at all. The only thing that protected Foutch from the full wrath of Darth Lucas was the fact that this is a product for the disabled. Imagine the stink over claims like "hey, George Lucas hates disabled people!"
Foutch is a huckster and a scam artist in my opinion. Everything about what I have seen so far just spells it out to me.
They were perfectly happy to let him carry on his business under another name. Only one of his products ("Jedi Mouse") even has the mark on it. The burden to his business would've been negligible. How is that stifling?
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
An idea thousands of years old, of wisdom and courage, co-opted and copyrighted by some 70's film as theirs.
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
And that matters... why? I'd see a point in that if there was indeed a frivolous exercise in who has the most money. But when that juggernaut legal department is actually in the right, and applying the law as it was intended all along, and the little guy opposing them is in the wrong and had acted in bad faith, then why does it matter that they're a juggernaut legal department? If you're right, you're right, and that's that. Being right and rich doesn't make one less right.
Exactly what is the fear factor here? That, god forbid, someone might do that "grinding into submission" to defend a legal right as they had it, and were using as intended?
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Just change the name to "Strong Force"... which should in one simple stroke protect them from litigation by picking a name generic enough to pass any reasonable muster, and at the same time tell Lucas films (and their legal dept.) to kiss their pink fuzzy butts.
Apple went through a similar problem. After adding a new synthesizer to the machine, they placed a bunch of new sounds, and one, a chime sound ran afoul to the legal dept. because they had just resolved a standing lawsuit regarding the use of musical sound (named chime) on the computer (a use Apple Records deemed was in conflict with their business trademark) and the sound and it's name were deemed too musical. So a senior VP suggest changing the name to "Let it Beep" a clear Beetles parody that would certainly provoke Apple Records to litigate. So finally the VP said name it "Sosumi", it's Japanese and has nothing to do with music (the new name is pronounced "So Sue Me") and people tell the tale of the bad pun to this day.
Your so-called 'small timer' Sourceforge project is called Death Star?
Exactly how *long* before 1-point-oh, huh buddy? Or should I call you Darth Vader now?
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
Move along, these are not the ones we are looking for.
This aint Daytona and you aint Dale Earnhardt. So stop trying to draft on Interstate 40.
Next, the Lucas Rebel Attorney Alliance turns their attention to Uncle Jed and sues the estate of Paul Henning.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
EVERYtime some bullshit comes up like this, someone comes up with 'context'. everytime, context context context. its time to realize that its not the 'context' but, it is the system, if it happens THAT much and that often.
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The original post confuses trademark law.
Under common law, all you have to do get trademark rights is to use a particular mark, although whether you can actually prevent any one else from using the mark depends on a lot of factors, e.g., your mark should be distinctive and you should be the first to use it for a particular type of product.
In addition to any common law rights, you can also get a federal trademark registration, which gives you the right to use the circle R symbol (note that it is against the law to use the circle R symbol unless you have a federal registration). Having a federal registration gives you some advantages over a common law trademark: (1) you get a presumption that you use the mark nationwide (as opposed to a particular geographic region), and (2) you can sue in federal court if someone infringes your trademark.
Even if you have a federal registration, you only have rights to a mark if you actually use it. If you get a federal registration on a mark, but stop using it, then that mark becomes available for someone else to use.
Trademark law is very different from patent/copyright law and serves a much clearer purpose -- people need to know the real source of the products they buy.
The word 'Jedi' has become a part of the American culture and LucasFilms Ltd is in danger of it becoming generic. Jedi Mind has to convince the judge that this is true and it would alter the course of battle...
It would be tough to find anyone to whom the word "Jedi" evokes a generic "monk-like guy", rather than Luke Skywalker, Yoda, or that pissant who hates sand.
...these are not the trademarks you are looking for
"Seven years of college down the drain. Might as well join the f-ing Peace Corps." - John 'Bluto' Blutarsky
What about the people who consider their religion to be "Jedi"? A significant number of those people are serious. I think that there is a valid argument to be made that Jedi has become generic, although I'm not sure that the argument is strong enough to carry the day.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
What about the people who consider their religion to be "Jedi"? A significant number of those people are serious.
Yes, and what are they referencing? Is it a religion based around "the Force", with a light and dark side that stretches through the universe and ties everything together? And furthermore, if you asked any of them to name one example of a "Jedi", would they say "Luke Skywalker" or "Yoda"?
Yeah. Still not generic. For a mark to become generic, it must have no association with the manufacturer.
I agree - it's a commercial usage, it's using the word in a similar context, and it's a word (AFAIK) solely created by LucasFilm.
For other examples of LucasFilm trademarks, I think the trademark over "Droid" is far more dubious, given that this is an obvious shortening of an existing English word, and although English words can be trademarked, they seem to try to enforce this even on things nothing to do with Star Wars (e.g., I believe that Motorola needed to license the trademark for their Droid, even though the name is clearly an obvious shortening of the Android operating system it runs, and nothing to do with Star Wars). The idea that a company can own - in any context - words in our language that are obvious derivations of existing words seems mad. (Just think, in years to come when perhaps robotics becomes commonplace, we won't be allowed to call them droids without infringing...)
Lucas just wants to "wet his beak."*
*"Wet his beak"(TM) is a trademark of Francis Ford Coppola, all rights reserved.
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
But I just remembered that I filled out a Canadian census card a few years ago just to register my religion as Jedi.
Does every external link from slashdot HAVE to be to wikipedia?
Nope.
Try this one.
http://goat.cc/
No one has raised this point yet. There are only so many 4 letter words: 26^4 = 456976. English has about 1 million words. We've already seen trouble over this shortage, and have had to adopt the expedient that unrelated businesses may use the same names and terms, under the notion that is unlikely to cause confusion. Look at the Firefox browser, going through 2 name changes. Phoenix is claimed for BIOS, Firebird is claimed for a database. All these were in the IT field, which was close enough that the browser people decided to change names rather than fight. Who knows, there could be Firefox deodorant. What I hear of Trademark law sounds reasonable, except for this technical problem. Some day we'll have to solve this problem properly if the number of trademarks continues to increase. Maybe add a numbering system. Jedi TM1 can be a different trademark from Jedi TM2.
So, yes, it can be stifling. Unintentional and innocent, but just as stifling.
Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"
IANALBIHADIL (I Am Not a Lawyer But I Hold a Degree in Law, there must be a shorter one for this - any suggestions?)
HWLD: Human With Law Degree? You could pronounce it like "hooled".
Oh, come on lawyers, I was just kidding. Please don't sue me. Please?
-=Steve=-
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
These are not the Jedis you are looking for.
Mixed references.
Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde. - Voltaire
Used to be an IP Paralegal.
Unless Lucas has registered "Jedi" as a trademark and used it, Lucas hasn't a leg to stand on other than they have money and can be an expensive nuisance. Just because you invented a word in a book or movie doesn't mean it is your trademark (unless you're using it AS a trademark, or it is the title of your book or movie).
If Lucas Arts had a game called "Jedi Mind", then they have a case because it is software. Otherwise, they got nuthin'.
If they have registered it as a trademark, then here's your test for infringement:
1. Similarity of the conflicting marks;
2. Relatedness or proximity of the two companies;
3. Strength of the senior users mark;
4. Marketing channels used;
5. Degree of care likely to be used by purchasers in selecting the goods;
6. The "second comers" intent in selecting its mark;
7. Evidence of actual confusion;
8. Likelihood of expansion in product lines
And that's all finally decided by a judge and jury.
"They said I probly shouldn't fly with just one eye," "I am Bender. Please insert girder."
Bascially what you are saying amounts to this - that all character names, place names and organization names in a work, be it a book or a movie, automatically qualify as trademarks.
This is obviously NOT the intention of trademarks. It would be especially harmful to society because trademarks, unlike copyrights, do NOT expire.
As example - if this were true, nobody would be eaten by a grue except in the original game, no goblins, orcs or trolls would be allowed because these obviously were trademarked in an earlier work.
I think Lucas arts is into this with their ass forwards - if they did not bother to trademark "Jedi" then it isn't a trademark.
And think of the poor members of the church of jediism ;-)
Hey don't blame me, IANAB
haha, sucks to be them. They did nothing to protect their IP. IMO they should loose.
\
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Besides the fact that I consider calling something a Jedi mind trick to be akin to calling something slight-of-hand, (those with stronger minds wouldn't be so easily fooled), has anyone considered that the lawsuit might be someone's way of getting free publicity for products I've never heard of?
The Force has been serving Dutch Volkswagen owners since 1964:
Jedi
Street view
I wonder if they really have a lift, or just use The Force when they have to work underneath a car.
Omnis basim vester nobis compete sunt.
Jedi Mind Inc is a SCAM. whois jedimindinc.com google blackhawkfinancial, brent fouch, etc. Not to mention priors. http://www.atomicbobs.com/index.php?mode=read&id=380401
These are not the trademarks you are looking for.
There is no Jedi.
The Jedi is a lie.
Great, now I have a bizarre mental image of Keanu Reeves holding Obi-Wan in one hand and bending him in half. My morning is starting off with too much Weird.
ad astra per alia porci
*facepalm*
can't believe I fell for that again
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it