In “Oh shit, why are you even fucking DOING THIS?!” news: Hasbro is suing DC over the trademark “Bumblebee”. I’m not making this up, either. This slag is very, very real. From the article:
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.”
Actually, if the Wiki is to be believed–and I honestly think that it is–you started selling Bumblebee toys in 1984, Hasbro. You are off by a year. I have no idea how badly that may hurt the case, if it will at all. But if you can’t get the date correct, it makes you look bad. Then there’s this:
“Defendants’ and/or their licensees’ use of the Accused Mark is likely to cause consumers mistakenly to believe that the Accused Goods emanate from or are otherwise associated with Hasbro,” the suit alleges. “Such improper use of the Accused Mark by Defendants and/or their licensees is likely to cause confusion, mistake and/or deception among the public as to the source of the Accused Goods.”
Please tell me you’re joking, Hasbro. Please tell me that this is a big joke, a belated April Fool’s Day prank, that I’ve been punk’d and I’ll just pretend I never saw this. Because I don’t see how anyone could confuse the Super Hero Girls Bumblebee with the Transformer!
I’m genuinely upset about this. What happens if Hasbro loses this? What happens to the name “Bumblebee” then? What does that mean for any future Bumblebee toys? Like I said, this really has me upset. I went for years without Bumblebee–the name was lost around the era of Beast Wars–and it took a long while for Hasbro to get it back. I don’t want another decade long drought without my sweet little Autobot. That would absolutely break me. I just can’t even.
Edit: There is an Allspark thread dealing with this; some are thinking that this may turn into a pissing match where Mattel backs down and has to re-name their toys in some fashion. I’m honestly hoping that it does go that way. I just can’t cope with the idea of losing Bumblebee for another damned decade again. It would be way too much for me.
Iacon East 