The term “Jedi” has been around for nearly 40 years and phrases like “Jedi mind trick” get thrown around so frequently you might forget that it’s a term that George Lucas created — and trademarked — for use in the Star Wars universe of movies, books, TV shows, variety specials, and merchandise. Which is why Lucasfilm — now a subsidiary of Disney — is suing the operator of programs that teach students how to use their lightsabers. [More]
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Lucasfilm Sues Operator Of “New York Jedi,” “Lightsaber Academy” Programs
By 10.17.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
Brewery Battling Lucasfilm After Attempt To Trademark “Empire Strikes Bock” Beer
By 10.24.14
On the one hand, it was all a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. On the other hand, Lucasfilm owns the trademark on the Star Wars franchise and you better believe anyone creeping around those star systems is going to get a response. So when an upstate New York brewery started peddling “Empire’s Strike Bock” beer, Disney-owned Lucasfilm fired up the legal engines and is sueing the brewery right into hyperspace (too many Star Wars references? No such thing). [More]
Lawsuit Claims Technology Industry Bigwigs Had Secret Anti-Poaching Pact To Keep Employee Salaries Low
By 1.30.12
The ability to play employers off bids from other companies seeking to snag the best in their fields is an important one. So much so, in fact, that workers in Silicon Valley have filed a lawsuit alleging that some of the industry’s biggest players were involved in a secret anti-poaching pact that kept salaries down and workers stuck where they were. [More]
George Lucas Says Your Actual Laser Looks Too Much Like Lightsaber
By 7.6.10
So apparently a lightsaber isn’t a laser, it’s a “blade of pure plasma energy emitted from the hilt and suspended in a force containment field,” but whatever, George Lucas says Wicked Lasers, based in Hong Kong, is violating LucasFilm’s trademark by selling lasers that look like lightsabers. [More]
