Hasbro Sues Asus Over Tranformer Prime Tablet's Name

[chomlee]

Usually when companies come out and use a trademarked name, they ask for permission and get an agreement with the owner BEFORE they release a product. Even though infringement is a stretch when it was just "Transformer", I still think it would be common courtesy to get permission from Hasbro. Alot of times companies are happy to do it because it is marketing for their brand as well. In this case, it is nothing but slimmy marketing people who sat there and said "lets not worry about the licensing thing yet, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it".

It is also dumb on their part since it would have been much cheaper to get an agreement to begin with. Now that the transformer has become the #1 or #2 competetor to the IPAD, Hasbro would want a bigger piece of the pie than what they would have originally agreed to.

 

[kristoffe]

apple should be sued by sir issac newton. he is both an apple lover and a genius. lolz

 

[WyomingKnott]

Maybe the power company could sue Hasbro? There's a transformer (tm) on a pole outside my house that's been there since before Hasbro came out with the line of toys.

 

[phasmantis]

[citation][nom]ikyung[/nom]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.[/citation]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I thought there was no way ASUS would make such a bold move in its naming process and not clear it with Hasbro. I see where Hasbro is coming from with this, because I made the link the first time I heard of the Transformer Prime.

Honestly, I think ASUS is going to lose this one, and this may be the first legit copyright infringement I've seen in a while.

 

[rohitbaran]

Usually I hate patent trolls, but I think in this case Asus just asked for it.

 

[intel4004]

😵

http://www.hasbro.com/shop/details.cfm?R=92017B78-5056-900B-10EA-ADE1D7A629B0:EN_US

 

[captaincharisma]

i am surprised it took this long. i knew this was going to happen

 

[egmccann]

[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]

For it to be patent trolling, there would have to be a patent involved. This is copyright / trademark infringement. Do try reading (and comprehending) the article.

And yes, if LG came out with another Optimus and called it "Prime," and used "cybernetic" or "robotic" imagery to advertise it, I'm sure Hasbro would do the same. One word, they sent a letter with a request not to use it. Start linking all that other stuff and it's a fairly blatant reference to *someone else's property.*

And yes, as someone who grew up in the 80s with the original Transformers cartoons, and is aware of how the franchise has developed... yes, it was one of the first things that came to mind when I first heard about this device.

 

[v1ze]

Shouldn't Math sue Hasbro for using Prime to begin with? 😱)

 

[Vladislaus]

[citation][nom]ikyung[/nom]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.[/citation]
Transformer: A person of thing that transforms.

I think that the name is quite apt for the tablet since it transforms from a slate to a "netbook".

Even though Hasbro has a trademark on the name Transformers, it doesn't own the word because it's an existing English word.

In your perspective Hasbro should sue LG for it's Optimus smartphone and nVidia for it's Optimus tech.

 

[klavis]

Would you people stop saying patents, this is a copyright issue and has nothing to do with patents. Copyright issues and patent issues are different.

 

[klavis]

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]Transformer: A person of thing that transforms.I think that the name is quite apt for the tablet since it transforms from a slate to a "netbook".Even though Hasbro has a trademark on the name Transformers, it doesn't own the word because it's an existing English word.In your perspective Hasbro should sue LG for it's Optimus smartphone and nVidia for it's Optimus tech.[/citation]

Sadly they may own the combination of words. Donald Trump successfully got some one to stop using the word You're Fired, on products because of his damn show. That was one of the most ludicrous things I've ever heard.

 

[demonhorde665]

[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]

creatively bankrupt ... ok granted the MOVIES stunk to high heaven , this encompasses more than the crappy movies transformers was a cartoon and toy line decades before asus even broke into mainstream computing .

that said , i AM totally in agreeance with Hasbro. Screw Asus for this blatant attempt to score cash off a Hasbro IP. i think Hasbro should have taken them to court over the first "transformer" tablet

 

[keyanf]

Regardless of being right or wrong, you'd have to wonder how the "Transformer Prime" name got past the legal department, it's like they WANTED to be sued.

 

[demonhorde665]

[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]

then you sir have probably lived under a rock since the 70's. any one that grew up in the 80's as a kid playing with transformers , would have made this connection.

 

[Guest]

I have a transformer in my guitar amplifier which transforms 120v to 24v and it will be renamed an iron core with lots of copper wire now

 

[dalethepcman]

[citation][nom]tuch92[/nom]If the word transformer wasn't a made up word......[/citation]

Yup Hasbro totally made up the word, then built a time machine and went back to 1300 AD to start using it.

Origin: 1300–50; Middle English transformen < Latin trānsfōrmāre to change in shape.

 

[invlem]

Honestly I have to say I do kind of understand this move... Transformer alone meant nothing, with that I'll agree completely... but calling it the transformer prime, does seem to be riding the edge a little bit.

Asus could have used many other words after transformer, why use the word prime specifically, anything else could have been used...

Any other word and I'd say Hasbro has no chance, using prime though, in context with the word transformer, I'll give that to Hasbro and say Asus was trying to ride a bit of the transformer franchise for marketing purposes

 

[DaveUK]

Transformer on its own is fine, but adding Prime to it (not a commonly used word at all in product marketing, except maybe Beef lol) really does hint at the trademark a little too much.

They only have themselves to blame, really. It's stupid.

 

[beoza]

Clearly most of you do not understand the difference between a Patent and a Trademark/Copyright. They are totally different subjects. Patents cover a devices design, and how it would work, a Trademark/Copyright covers a products name/logo. Hasbro is not suing over a patent they are suing over a trademark.

And Yes aracheb Transformers are based on the original Microman and Diaclone toy lines by Takara Toys, the name Transformers is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro bought the toys from Takara and renamed them for the US market.

This is one lawsuit I support in that it is protecting an actual name and not in the case of Apple the placement of a lower case i in front of other words such as iTunes/iPod/iPad/iPhone (which they recently received a Trademark/Copyright for). I'm actually waiting for someone to actually sue Apple over the lower case i, because it was trademarked much earlier by iRobot Corp. who manufacturers the Roomba.

Lets not forget Apple actually sued Burger King sometime in the last decade over the name Frypod because it sounded too close to iPod...Apple lost the case however.