Godzilla’s fearsome lawyers
Remember the above-pictured Subway advertisement that was subject to a lawsuit and eventual settlement over the unauthorized use of Godzilla’s image? It seems that was just one of many examples of how far Toho will go to protect its intellectual property.
Wired’s Threat Level blog has an article about Toho’s lawyers, who have won numerous lawsuits against those who dare to use fire-breathing dinosaurs with anthropomorphic torsos without first paying money to Godzilla’s owners.
But there have been lawsuits a bit too ridiculous for them to win:
In one of Godzilla’s few U.S. courthouse losses, a federal appeals court sided with Sears, Roebuck, which marketed “bagzilla” garbage bags as “monstrously strong bags.” The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in essence, said Toho’s arguments were rubbish.
The court ruled that Toho’s claims of infringement and trademark dilution were “implausible.” Sears, the court found, “means only to make a pun.”
[via JapanSoc]
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