Hasbro Sues Asus Over Tranformer Prime Tablet's Name

[yannigr]

ASUS is taking advantage of the Transformers movies popularity (maybe the Transformers special effects popularity, because the movies are nothing special), there is no doubt here. I don't know if Hasbro is going to win this lawsuit or lose it but it is not a "your phone is black, i sue you" case.
Anyway I always was a huge fan of Robotech/Macross, never really liked the Transformers animation.

 

[Guest]

ROBOTECH OH YEAH!!!!!!

greatest show I watched growing up

 

[back_by_demand]

Hasbro is asking for $99999199999 in damages

 

[secolliyn]

Hasbro should team up with ten and with every Transformer Prime give a special cut of Dark of the Moon and other various Transformers stuff also they could allow "paint jobs" for the tablets that are the colors of your Favorite Transformer that way they don't look so petty over suing for something really they should not win but most likely will with those added benefits Hasbro could have on their hands an Official Tablet for Transformer Fans (I hear there are a few of us out there)
Also it would be bomb if they could get Peter Cullen to do an intro to the tablet using the Optimus Prime voice im just saying they should make the best out of a situation Not paying all these lawyers loads of money

 

[shqtth]

I don't know anyone who thinks or associates 'Transformers' or 'Optimus Prime' with the Asus Transformer or Transformer Prime. The most that comes out of it, is that the device can transform, and thats a function that everyone knows what it is. Althouth they may have gone too far by using the prime name. They could of called it Transformer One. Or Transformer Plus/Ultimate anything but prime, as Transform is a generic name. Althought it would be cool if Asus teemed up with Hasbro, and they enhance the trandformer line, making it look cool 😉 Also painthing it or adding logos with transformers elements etc.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]secolliyn[/nom]if they could get Peter Cullen to do an intro to the tablet using the Optimus Prime voice[/citation]
They could avoid a lawsuit with Hasbro by saying the voice could easily be Venger from Dungeons & Dragons, Eyyore from Winnie the Pooh, Red Skull from Spiderman or even KARR from Knight Rider
...
Depends if he says anything stupid like "Autobots, roll out!" or not

 

[zybch]

[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]They could avoid a lawsuit with Hasbro by saying the voice could easily be Venger from Dungeons & Dragons, Eyyore from Winnie the Pooh, Red Skull from Spiderman or even KARR from Knight Rider...Depends if he says anything stupid like "Autobots, roll out!" or not[/citation]
Don't you mean "Autobots, sell out!"?

 

[s10blazed]

What this article fails to mention is that The Hub (TV station owned/operated by Hasbro) currently airs a show called Transformers Prime (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659175/). With only 1 single letter difference I can see a solid case for Hasbro.

 

[olaf]

Asus is the one at fault here, they went overboard with it now, with the adding of "prime", it is blatantly clear that they are trying to cache in on the asociation with a name most of us associate with fond childhood memmorys. As for LG if they add prime to there optimus line they deserv to get kicked where the sun don't shine.

 

[rb420]

[citation][nom]s10blazed[/nom]What this article fails to mention is that The Hub (TV station owned/operated by Hasbro) currently airs a show called Transformers Prime (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1659175/). With only 1 single letter difference I can see a solid case for Hasbro.[/citation]

I was about to say the same thing. A lot of people are unaware of this newest edition of the classic cartoons. Transformers: Prime came out about a year ago as a five part mini series that led up to the launch of the series of the same name.

If it weren't for that I'd say the lawsuit was a bit of a stretch. But this is just too similar. They are obviously trying to get piggyback on the recent success of the franchise.

 

[aracheb]

i thought i was wrong when i was pondering..
wtf hasbro.. i thought orginal transformer history and brand name came from Japan

Transformers characters that appeared between 1984 and 1993. The Transformers began with the 1980s Japanese toy lines Microman and Diaclone.

 

[eddieroolz]

I'm sorry to Hasbro but I did not connect the Transformers series to the tablet name. Not at all.

 

[sissysue]

Hasbro has a point and I agree with them. If ASUS just used Transformer without using the Prime it would be OK but the Prime was definitely trying to use the cartoon/movie franchise.

 

[jacobdrj]

[citation][nom]eddieroolz[/nom]I'm sorry to Hasbro but I did not connect the Transformers series to the tablet name. Not at all.[/citation]
I did, and just assumed there was a licensing agreement there...

 

[ojas]

[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]BS. This is patent trolling. The tablet transforms. Therefore it's a transformer. Sue LG and their Optimus, too, then.[/citation]

Even Nvidia's optimus tech...though that would relate to being optimal i suppose...

But anyway, how does this possibly affect hasbro? they're selling another product altogether...

 

[jacobdrj]

[citation][nom]ojas[/nom]Even Nvidia's optimus tech...though that would relate to being optimal i suppose...But anyway, how does this possibly affect hasbro? they're selling another product altogether...[/citation]
If the product was a negative one, it could reflect poorly on the Transformers brand. Either way, they are effectively piggybacking on the popularity of Transformers without paying royalties to their IP... Keeping it obscure like just using the word Transformer would have been ok... But Transformer with Prime is just blatantly taking from Hasbro...

 

[mcd023]

OR they could let them use the name for $1 or $2 per device sold.

 

[clivene09]

The first Transformer tablet made me wonder. When they came out with the Transformer Prime, I honestly thought they had licensed the name from whoever owned the Transformer franchise (obviously Hasbro). I like Asus, and the tablet looks sweet, but I think they were absolutely trying to draw a connection between the franchise, and its tablet. I wonder why they don't just consider a licensing agreement.

 

[hang-the-9]

Using Transformer in the name is one thing, then using that name along with a created character made by the company is another. Cute, but they need to get the rights for that.

I may be able to start a restaurant under the name Chef. If I call a meal I create Chef Boyardee and market it, well, I'm pretty sure I'll hear from some lawers.

 

[freggo]

Who would confuse Hasbro with anything computer related ?
This is just going to buy a few BMWs for the attorneys.
Merry Christmas... :-(