On Wed, 25 Apr 2001, Martin L. Shoemaker wrote:
> > > Suppose I do a space opera movie called "Stellar
> > > Wars." Don't you think
> > > Lucasfilm might be giving me a call?
> >
> > Actually, no. If your logo looked like the Star Wars
> > logo or if you featured any of the same characters or
> > settings then you'd have trouble. The words are way
> > too commonplace for anybody to get their panties in a
> > wad over them, IMO.
>
> Forgive me if this seems impertinent, but are you an IP lawyer? Any kind of
> lawyer? Or any sort of professional who works with IP on a regular basis? If
> not, then your opinion has no weight. If so, your opinion has some weight,
> but is only decisive if you can get a court to share it.
>
> My completely weightless opinion: if the genre were space opera and the
> names that similar, the very protective LucasFilm lawyers would be on the
> case 30 seconds after George learned about it. The logo wouldn't matter one
> bit; and the characters and settings would matter even less, since those are
> a matter for copyright, not trademark. (Their names and likenesses might be
> matters for trademarks.)
Lucasfilm sued over people calling Reagan's SDI program star wars (622
F.Supp. 931 for those who care to look it up) so they'll sue over anything
remotely touching on their trademark. No, Lucasfilm did not win the
case. But I also don't think Lucasfilm was/is too concerned about
spending money to defend their trademark. And even in losing the case,
Lucasfilm did defend their trademark.
alec
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