DC and Hasbro have reached a settlement in the lawsuit over use of the name Bumblebee. Both companies can continue using the name for their respective characters (DC’s Teen Titan and Super Hero Girl character and Hasbro’s yellow Autobot), According to Variety, The Southern District of New York’s Judge Lorna Schofield dismissed the case after DC’s attorneys delivered a settlement notice to the court. Here’s a little info on the case:
This all started last year when Hasbro sued DC Comics and Warner Bros.l over their character who shares the name Bumblebee, who is now a part of their popular DC Super Hero Girls brand. At the time Hasbro claimed that fans could easily confuse the characters
“Defendants’ and/or their licensees’ use of the Accused Mark is likely to cause consumers mistakenly to believe that the Accused Goods emanate from or are otherwise associated with Hasbro. Such improper use of the Accused Mark by Defendants and/or their licensees is likely to cause confusion, mistake and/or deception among the public as to the source of the Accused Goods.”
DC Comics’ version of the character actually existed before the Transformers version, though that version is much more well known. DC’s Bumblebee was created in 1977 while the Autobot came into being in 1983. Hasbro actually owns the trademark though, which they filed for on July 15, 2015.
Hasbro does have significant skin in the game since the Christmas will see the release of the Transformers spin off movie, Bumblebee:
Bumblebee stars Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Schneider, Jorge Lendenborg Jr., Jason Drucker, Kenneth Choi, Ricardo Hoyos, Abby Quinn, Rachel Crow, and Grace Dzienny.
“On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.”
On DC’s front, Bumblebee continues to be and important part of DC Super Hero Girls. No word yet on if we will see her in the live action Titans series.
