Disney and Pixar mull opposition to SanDisk trademark

Entertainment companies Disney and Pixar appear to be investigating whether to oppose a trademark filed by SanDisk, a manufacturer of data storage solutions.

SanDisk filed an application to register ‘ Pixtor’ as a trademark in the US in March this year.

It covers international class 9, which includes computer disk drives, memory cards and other data storage devices.

The time period for filing a notice of opposition was set to expire on September 21, but one day before, Disney and Pixar filed a request to extend the time.

That request was granted the same day by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Then, on October 19, the court granted a further extension until December 20 after Disney and Pixar requested additional time to investigate the claim and confer with counsel.

Disney and Pixar found themselves at the centre of a copyright complaint earlier this year, when a child development expert accused the companies of copying the central concept and characters in the 2015 animation film “Inside Out”.

Denise Daniels amended her complaint in September at the US District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that her idea for a children’s TV programme called “The Moodsters” was copied by the entertainment companies.

Disney was also accused of copyright infringement by a US screenwriter centring on the film “Zooptia” in March. The suit argued that Disney had infringed Goldman’s copyright.

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