Posts Tagged: "George Lucas"

Lucasfilm brings trademark suit against operator of lightsaber training academies

The lawsuit filed by Lucasfilm names a series of defendants including Michael Brown, also known as Flynn Michael, a resident of Oakland, CA, and the operator of a number of businesses including New York Jedi, Lightsaber Academy as well as Thrills and Skills. The complaint also lists a number of websites with similar names operated by the defendants. Lucasfilm notes that the defendants are in the business of offering lightsaber classes to students for improving their skills with lightsaber equipment and perform as a “Jedi.” For example, the website for New York Jedi offers a series of what it calls “light saber choreo classes” for teens and adults. As the about section of its website states, “while we are not specifically Star Wars-centric, we do rely heavily on many of the principles and training used by that of the Jedi Order.”

Steve Brachmann

November 1, 2016

How do Estates Monetize Images and Intellectual Property of Dead Celebrities?

With the deaths of Prince and David Bowie earlier in the year, the process by which celebrity estates monetize the images and other intellectual property (IP) of the dearly departed has come into greater focus. How will they handle the onslaught of business from rights to their images and other non-musical IP? Unlike recordings and music publishing, which are covered by national law, individual states determine rights of publicity. Specifically, copyrights are federal and can be inherited by heirs such as in the Marvin Gaye case.

Derek Handova

August 10, 2016

Hollywood Patents: Inventions from 12 Celebrity Inventors

How many Hollywood celebrities were inventors? Below is our list of the most interesting inventions from a number of well known actors and directors… Action figures of movie star icons and heroes have been treasured by kids for decades now. George Lucas isn’t the first filmmaker to improve his wealth through merchandising, but this design patent, issued by the USPTO in April 1982, is just one of more than 20 design patents for toy figures that the filmmaker’s Lucasfilm company has been assigned.

Gene Quinn & Steve Brachmann

March 3, 2014