A few days ago, my wife showed me a promo video for Lightsaber Academy, which is “A Consortium for Academic, Stage Combat, and Sport Dueling Lightsaber Instructors.” I’ve written in the past about Star Wars Trademarks (here’s the post, which you can also listen to as a podcast, with sound effects & everything.) So I can’t say I was surprised to read that Disney (which owns Lucasfilm, which owns Star Wars, which owns my childhood) has filed a trademark lawsuit against Lightsaber Academy.
You can read Disney’s compliant here.
Disney’s stated goal is “to protect against infringement of their intellectual property rights, including but not limited to their ownership of the trademarks ‘JEDI’ and ‘LIGHTSABER.'” They also mention “the distinctive logo of the Jedi Order.” From Disney’s complaint:
Looks pretty close to me. Disney’s complaint goes on to state that
Defendants are in the business of promoting, producing, offering for sale and selling unauthorized “Lightsaber” classes, which purport to teach students how to use “Lightsabers” and/or perform as “Jedi.”… Defendants are also in the business of promoting, producing, offering for sale and selling Instructor Certifications and Director Certifications that purport to license others to offer additional “Lightsaber” classes.
They claim that the Defendants have sought official licenses, which Disney has declined. Disney has provided written notice that Defendants are to cease and desist, and they have not done so. The Defendants have also filed trademark applications with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) for the logo above on the left and for NEW YORK JEDI. All of which prompted Disney to file a lawsuit alleging trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false designation of origin, unfair competition, and cybersquatting (“by registering numerous domains that infringe upon the Lucasfilm Trademarks”).
For Lightsaber Academy, the possibility of successfully navigating this lawsuit is approximately 3,720 to 1. Disney owns these marks, and they are not obligated to provide you with a license to use them commercially (or otherwise).
