Hasbro Sues Asus Over Transformer Prime Tablet

[Tom Bombadildo]

You guys *have* to be joking right now. I'm starting to think you're just opposing it because it's Hasbro and not because it's blatantly obvious that people can be confused by the name - two trademarked names BY Hasbro. Regardless of whether to two words separated have their own meanings, the name is heavily related to Transformers and that franchise's character. Seriously, if you don't see this - i can't help you. I honestly can't.

Then Hasbro should sue electric companies for "Transformers" and butchers and cooks for "prime rib".

 

[DiscostewSM]

You guys *have* to be joking right now. I'm starting to think you're just opposing it because it's Hasbro and not because it's blatantly obvious that people can be confused by the name - two trademarked names BY Hasbro. Regardless of whether to two words separated have their own meanings, the name is heavily related to Transformers and that franchise's character. Seriously, if you don't see this - i can't help you. I honestly can't.

Then Hasbro should sue electric companies for "Transformers" and butchers and cooks for "prime rib".

How about humans for just existing, because there are humans in the show (the old ones at least).

 

[Canonbeat234]

Hasbro suing Asus for the name by itself; Bravo.

It's funny how they aren't going apeshit about those MLP fanatics uploading episodes on Youtube. I can see Hasbro is also defending the 'Transformers' gig is to prevent other smartphones/tablets from using other names like 'Megatron'; 'Soundwave'; and etc.

 

[Rydian]

Er, guys. Isn't one of the points of trademarked names and such the product's category?

Like how Apple can't sue the Macintosh apples because they're apples, not computers, so they're not infringing on apple's sales of computers because they're not a competitor.

 

[DSGamer64]

You can't sue someone over using two words as a derivative for the name of their product. Transformer is a copyrighted name yes, but you can't sue a company because they named their product Transformer Prime.

 

[DSGamer64]

You guys *have* to be joking right now. I'm starting to think you're just opposing it because it's Hasbro and not because it's blatantly obvious that people can be confused by the name - two trademarked names BY Hasbro. Regardless of whether to two words separated have their own meanings, the name is heavily related to Transformers and that franchise's character. Seriously, if you don't see this - i can't help you. I honestly can't.

You can't copyright words like Transformer and Prime, seeing as how Transformers were invented long before the toy was and Prime was used as a math term long before Optimus Prime was created.

 

[Thesolcity]

EDIT: NVM. They have a right to. They literally own "Transformers Prime".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers:_Prime

 

[Deleted_171835]

You guys *have* to be joking right now. I'm starting to think you're just opposing it because it's Hasbro and not because it's blatantly obvious that people can be confused by the name - two trademarked names BY Hasbro. Regardless of whether to two words separated have their own meanings, the name is heavily related to Transformers and that franchise's character. Seriously, if you don't see this - i can't help you. I honestly can't.

You can't copyright words like Transformer and Prime, seeing as how Transformers were invented long before the toy was and Prime was used as a math term long before Optimus Prime was created.

Not each word, the phrase. 'Transformers Prime' is copyrighted.

 

[DiscostewSM]

You guys *have* to be joking right now. I'm starting to think you're just opposing it because it's Hasbro and not because it's blatantly obvious that people can be confused by the name - two trademarked names BY Hasbro. Regardless of whether to two words separated have their own meanings, the name is heavily related to Transformers and that franchise's character. Seriously, if you don't see this - i can't help you. I honestly can't.

You can't copyright words like Transformer and Prime, seeing as how Transformers were invented long before the toy was and Prime was used as a math term long before Optimus Prime was created.

Not each word, the phrase. 'Transformers Prime' is copyrighted.

"Transformers" is. "Transformer" is not. "Optimus Prime" is. "Prime" is not. "Transformers Prime" may be copyrighted, but that isn't the name of the tablet, as it doesn't include the 's' after "Transformer".

 

[Thesolcity]

You guys *have* to be joking right now. I'm starting to think you're just opposing it because it's Hasbro and not because it's blatantly obvious that people can be confused by the name - two trademarked names BY Hasbro. Regardless of whether to two words separated have their own meanings, the name is heavily related to Transformers and that franchise's character. Seriously, if you don't see this - i can't help you. I honestly can't.

You can't copyright words like Transformer and Prime, seeing as how Transformers were invented long before the toy was and Prime was used as a math term long before Optimus Prime was created.

Not each word, the phrase. 'Transformers Prime' is copyrighted.

"Transformers" is. "Transformer" is not. "Optimus Prime" is. "Prime" is not. "Transformers Prime" may be copyrighted, but that isn't the name of the tablet, as it doesn't include the 's' after "Transformer".

All they have to do is prove that consumers would be confused at how close those are.

 

[amptor]

Why doesn't Takara just sue Hasbro for changing Convoy's name to Optimus Prime well I guess and diaclone to transformers

I agree with Hasbro on this, guys. They stole these names because they know people in their 30's will pay attention to the name and possibly buy the products even though the tablet isn't a robot or cartoon show. I hope Hasbro wins.

---

 

[MelodieOctavia]

On another note, i'm going to create a line of clothes called "Tanuki Mario" I mean, after all Tanuki is a real animal, and Mario is a common italian name. And everyone loves Italian fashion.

 

[Seraph]

Why doesn't Takara just sue Hasbro for changing Convoy's name to Optimus Prime well I guess and diaclone to transformers

I agree with Hasbro on this, guys. They stole these names because they know people in their 30's will pay attention to the name and possibly buy the products even though the tablet isn't a robot or cartoon show. I hope Hasbro wins.

I hope not...maybe I'm biased because I think Asus makes quality PC's/hardware but I'm on their side. I'm sure many people who went to go pre-order a $500 tablet did so because it sounded like Transformers (people in their 30's at that).

I also hope you weren't being serious throughout your entire post...

 

[amptor]

Why doesn't Takara just sue Hasbro for changing Convoy's name to Optimus Prime well I guess and diaclone to transformers

I agree with Hasbro on this, guys. They stole these names because they know people in their 30's will pay attention to the name and possibly buy the products even though the tablet isn't a robot or cartoon show. I hope Hasbro wins.

I hope not...maybe I'm biased because I think Asus makes quality PC's/hardware but I'm on their side. I'm sure many people who went to go pre-order a $500 tablet did so because it sounded like Transformers (people in their 30's at that).

I also hope you weren't being serious throughout your entire post...

I'm biased because I don't buy Asus any longer for personal use. I buy Evga components. Prebuilt laptops from Asus? gimme a break. Quality control please.

OMG since when am I suppose to be serious all the time? I am amptor. Google search stuff I have posted on gbatemp in the past and you will see what I mean

Also I like your rather fluffeh avatar photo :3

 

[pokefloote]

They didn't bother the Asus Transformer, and they wouldn't bother a product called Asus Prime. The fact that those two words are together gives Hasbro a little better of a reason to sue, in my opinion.

Some are saying, oh transformer was a word before hasbro, or prime. Yeah, but not when used together. It's commonly associated with "Transformers" products.

I'm repeating what's been said already, but damn, It's not that difficult to understand.

 

[jumpman17]

I have to side with Hasbro on this one. They have a show called Transformers Prime that is currently airing. So not only is ASUS using the main brand name, it's in conjunction with the word Prime. Hasbro also has to sue to maintain their hold on the name. If they don't and a later case arrises, the court can say they must not care about the name as they didn't sue ASUS previously for using it, and if you don't activly seek to protect your intellectual property, you forfeit the rights to it.

 

[Wizerzak]

This is perfectly reasonable IMO. I actually read the title and thought it was something to do with Transformers. It has BOTH the words Transformers AND Prime, immediately bringing to mind Transformers and Optimus Prime. Not to mention that cartoon series in the post above me.

 

[Seraph]

Why doesn't Takara just sue Hasbro for changing Convoy's name to Optimus Prime well I guess and diaclone to transformers

I agree with Hasbro on this, guys. They stole these names because they know people in their 30's will pay attention to the name and possibly buy the products even though the tablet isn't a robot or cartoon show. I hope Hasbro wins.

I hope not...maybe I'm biased because I think Asus makes quality PC's/hardware but I'm on their side. I'm sure many people who went to go pre-order a $500 tablet did so because it sounded like Transformers (people in their 30's at that).

I also hope you weren't being serious throughout your entire post...

I'm biased because I don't buy Asus any longer for personal use. I buy Evga components. Prebuilt laptops from Asus? gimme a break. Quality control please.

OMG since when am I suppose to be serious all the time? I am amptor. Google search stuff I have posted on gbatemp in the past and you will see what I mean

Also I like your rather fluffeh avatar photo :3

Oh, I know your posts which is why I was hoping you weren't serious throughout this one. And it's understandable WHY they are suing them, but the Transformers brand hardly ever(if ever) get referenced in tech blogs and such. But like I said, I'm biased...Asus should probably just change the name. And I personally haven't owned Asus laptops, I have a few friends that do and they seem to be much more reliable than some of the bigger brands.

 

[ferofax]

Lol @ the people arguing there's no infringement going on. Transformer Prime is in no way just a "fringe" permutation of the words "Transformer" or "Prime", and it evokes exactly what it was meant to evoke: images of Optimus Prime. Or did you guys live under a rock during the past 50 years to not know him enough? The combination is too blatant to ignore it altogether, but I do feel that somebody somewhere had a bad idea: maybe Hasbro for suing an innocent-looking tablet that practically bears no semblance to Hasbro's Optimus, or somebody over at ASUS for even trying to "test the waters".

In any case, i'm betting it's a Chinese who thought of this idea. They who respect not the laws of "i thought of it first".

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

I think Hasbro is in the right with this one.... come on "Transformer Prime"! Someone at ASUS had to think that it was too close to a Trademark franchise, though in their defense it really has nothing to do with Robots or the Cartoon at all and I can't really see the tablet taking anything away from Hasbro. My solution, ASUS change the name of the damn tablet so it doesn't sound so similar to a popular cartoon/movie series.