Children's toy maker Hasbro has filed suit against Asus for alleged trademark violation regarding the use of the Transformer Prime name that the company's latest tablet carries. Hasbro filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court last week, seeking damages and a temporary injunction to stop Asus from selling the tablet.
In an email to paidContent, Hasbro says they continue to aggressively protect their brand and products. They feel that Asus is using the Transformer Prime name for their own financial gain, leveraging the Transformers brand and a name of one of the most popular characters.
The toy maker's lawsuit could be tough to win as trademark law typically only applies to certain categories of products. This is why companies in different industries can share similar names, like Delta Airlines and Delta Faucets. As paidContent points out, it's unlikely that a consumer would mix up a children's toy and a tablet featuring similar names.
Hasbro is well aware of this but will likely argue that the Transformers brand is expanding and they need to protect it through a wider array of goods. Asus was not available for comment at the time that paidContent published their article.
Asus recently launched the Transformer Prime as the first tablet to utilize Nvidia's new quad-core Tegra 3 processor, codenamed Kal-El. The unit ships with either 32GB or 64GB of internal memory, a 1280 x 800 resolution Super IPS+ display with Corning Gorilla Glass and weighs only 1.29 pounds. It's currently available on Amazon.com and other sites starting at $469.99.