Hasbro sues Warner Bros over ‘Transformers’ character
Toy and game manufacturer Hasbro has sued Warner Bros for trademark infringement for allegedly using the ‘Bumblebee’ trademark without permission on its ‘Super Hero Girls’ line of action toys.
Hasbro owns the “Transformers” franchise, a group of robots with the ability to convert their appearance into that of vehicles, weapons, humans, animals and other items.
One of the robots, which Hasbro claim is often a lead character, is called Bumblebee. Hasbro registered this as a trademark in 2015 and was granted US registration number 4,874,521, according to the complaint at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
It added that Warner Bros sells the ‘Bumblebee Super Hero Girls’ line of toys to the same market and this “is likely to cause consumers mistakenly to believe that the accused goods emanate from or are otherwise associated with Hasbro”.
Hasbro is seeking a permanent injunction, compensatory, statutory and punitive damages, as well as costs and attorneys’ fees.
The company’s claims also relate to building blocks which allow users to build their own transformer.
It claimed that building block toys sold and licensed by Warner Bros are also likely to cause confusion.
Some reports are suggesting the lawsuit comes at a time that Hasbro seeks to clear the competition ahead of the first “Transformers” spin-off, due in cinemas in the US this Christmas.
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