US Court gives ASUS green light on Transformer Prime naming

Late last year, toy maker Hasbro sued ASUS for their Transformer Prime moniker, and requested an injunction on all sales of the tablet. The company’s reasoning behind the lawsuit was that the name bore too many similarities to their animated series and would result in brand confusion.

Now close to 3 months later, a US federal district court has come to a decision; ruling that ASUS did no wrong with their naming, and giving them the go to proceed with tablet sales. In the ruling, the judge stated:

“There is nothing gimmicky about the Eee Pad Transformer or the Eee Pad Transformer Prime, nor can it be said that there is any similarity in the use or function between Hasbro and Asus’s products.”

Furthermore, Hasbro was unable to support the claim that they were planning on releasing Transformer branded merchandise, and the lack of details about the so-called products did not strengthen their case. The judge also found that since ASUS’s tablet is indeed a “Transformer” thanks to its detachable keyboard, this was enough grounds for utilizing the name.

On the other hand, Habro released a statement in response to the court’s ruling, claiming that they “strongly disagree with the court’s decision” but were pleased with the court's stance on with regards to the strength of their trademarks. Unfortunately, it appears that Hasbro won’t be giving in easily, as they plan “to actively pursue this matter and will take all steps necessary to protect its globally recognized and established marks”.

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