Hasbro Sues Asus Over Tranformer Prime Tablet's Name

[exfileme]

Hasbro is suing Asus in court over the use of the Transformer name for its Eee Pad Transformer tablets, citing trademark infringement.

Hasbro Sues Asus Over Tranformer Prime Tablet's Name : Read more

 

[zybch]

This is possibly one time where I agree that the plaintiff should sue to protect their property.
Asus are clearly attempting to establish a link in potential consumers' minds between their product and the highly successful (but creatively bankrupt) movies and toy franchise.
They could have easily entered into a licensing deal like AMD has done in the past with Ferrari but they instead acted like a bunch of dicks and need to be bitch-slapped.

 

[TheKurrgan]

Adjective:
Prime:
Adjective:
Of first importance; main.
Noun:
A state or time of greatest strength, vigor, or success in a person's life.
Verb:
Make (something) ready for use or action, in particular.

Sorry Hasbro, you aren't going to win this one. To dissimilar from your trade mark, and the fact that prime is in there isn't good enough to move that in my opinion...
Grow the hell up..
However, if we can start suing over the use of words, I claim f...ehh, never mind.

 

[rantoc]

Yeah adding that Prime into the Transformer family is way too much.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

[citation][nom]zybch[/nom]This is possibly one time where I agree that the plaintiff should sue to protect their property.Asus are clearly attempting to establish a link in potential consumers' minds between their product and the highly successful (but creatively bankrupt) movies and toy franchise.They could have easily entered into a licensing deal like AMD has done in the past with Ferrari but they instead acted like a bunch of dicks and need to be bitch-slapped.[/citation]

BS. This is patent trolling. The tablet transforms. Therefore it's a transformer. Sue LG and their Optimus, too, then.

 

[tuch92]

If the word transformer wasn't a made up word I'd get the lawsuit, but I'd say it's a stretch at best. I can easily see where both sides are coming from, but I'd argue that the fact that it transforming from a tablet to a laptop helps Asus because it shows obviously where the name comes from. "Prime" may not have been the smartest move, but again, I wouldn't say it was done on purpose. Knowing of both items if you said "Transformer Prime" I wouldn't even think about the franchise. Just my thoughts.

 

[chumly]

You spelled tranSformer wrong.

 

[Darkerson]

I was wondering when this was going to happen. Im surprised it took Hasbro this long to start the lawsuits.

 

[joytech22]

Hasbro is now suing Asus for trademark infringement, unfair competition, and trademark dilution. It has also asked the court to stop Asus from using the Transformer name in its current and future products, and seeks monetary compensation for damages.

LOL what? Do they have some secret competing device that the world doesn't know about?
What unfair competition? It's not like they are sticking these tablets into the kids isles.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

These patents only screw over American customers, because you know what's gonna happen? Asus will NOT comply no matter what. They'll just pull Transformers from USA or sell them under a different name while the rest of the world enjoys patent troll free shopping experience. Somehow Europe and Asia provides profit for the companies WITHOUT lawsuits every week.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Also, Hasbro was bribed by Apple

 

[Guest]

"These patents only screw over American customers, because you know what's gonna happen? Asus will NOT comply no matter what. They'll just pull Transformers from USA or sell them under a different name while the rest of the world enjoys patent troll free shopping experience. Somehow Europe and Asia provides profit for the companies WITHOUT lawsuits every week."

So does this mean they won't update firmware and stuff like that for those who have already purchased?

 

[dimar]

Hasbo, why don't you go and make new Beast Wars series instead of this BS/waste of time, or are you trying to get some funds?

 

[Guest]

Tranformer.

 

[will1220]

I actually own a Asus Transformer and have been quite impressed with it, and the new 2nd gen Transformer Prime reviews..

After reading many write ups one both tablets, NEVER has Hasbro's Transformers came to mind.

This is just blatent trolling by Hasbro

 

[tului]

If I was 8 years old again, I might ask my dad to get an Asus Transformer Prime, sure. As it stands now, I'm 33 and this didn't even remotely make me think of Optimus Prime or any other Autobot until I read this article. Shame on you Hasbro. I hope you lose and lose money doing so.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Unlike some other commenters in the article, I've thought about the Transformers but only because I found it clever of Asus to name the tablet in such a way - I found the Transformers franchise to be completely retarded and stereotypical and was glad that the name was overtaken by someone who did more with it.

 

[ikyung]

Some of these comments are stupid.. the tablet is called Transformer Prime. They were obviously using it as a marketing strategy. I honestly thought Asus had a deal with Hasbro to use this name, but obviously they didn't. I read another article a while ago where Asus said their next tablet after Transformer Prime was going to be named after another Transformer.

Hasbro did the right thing to sue because Asus isn't paying a royalty to use a brand name.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]These patents only screw over American customers, because you know what's gonna happen? Asus will NOT comply no matter what. They'll just pull Transformers from USA or sell them under a different name while the rest of the world enjoys patent troll free shopping experience. Somehow Europe and Asia provides profit for the companies WITHOUT lawsuits every week.[/citation]

this is a fairly legitimate trademark claim.
transformer... ok
prime... ok
transformer prime... thats a sticky situation there...

its a transforming tablet. its also... well read the definition above...

but optimus prime is a transformer...

this isnt rounded icons, or finger gestures.

 

[JeTJL]

[citation][nom]joytech22[/nom]LOL what? Do they have some secret competing device that the world doesn't know about?What unfair competition? It's not like they are sticking these tablets into the kids isles.[/citation]

Went to Toys R Us, they were selling a Asus tablet there, though we bought the Amazon Kindle Fire for my sister there.


I did think of the Hasbro toys when the Asus Transformer Prime came out though.

But Hasbro's toy line is called Transformers, with a "S" at the end. something as little as this makes a big difference when it comes to these cases.