|
Star Wash has shared videos on social media showing attendants
dressed as "Star Wars" characters such as Chewbacca or a
Stormtrooper wiping down hoods, bounty hunter Boba Fett and hero
Cassian Andor wielding hosepipes instead of blasters and Darth
Vader appearing to use The Force to summon cleaning cloths.
The law firm representing the carwash said that while owner
Matias Jara was in the process of registering his brand with
Chilean patent authority INAPI, he received a lawsuit from the
franchise's creator, Lucasfilm.
Jara's lawyers said the U.S. movie production firm wanted to
block the registration of the name and had argued that the brand
could be confused as being affiliated with them. It has not
raised issues with the attendants, they said.
Lucasfilm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jara is contesting the suit, according to his lawyers, who argue
that the name is sufficiently different from the movie franchise
to avoid confusion and that the production company's copyright,
while covering products such as toys, furniture and
non-alcoholic drinks, does not extend to cleaning cars.
"Of course this lawsuit is affecting us. We're a small business
and we're spending on things we hadn't budgeted for," Jara said
in an interview.
He said his young daughter had thought of the wordplay while on
a family trip to a Disney theme park in the United States that
features a "Star Wars" area.
"We don't make movies or sell their products or anything like
that," Jara added, noting that his business was, however, a
"stellar" car wash.
(Reporting by Nicolas Cortes in Santiago; Writing by Sarah
Morland; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Mark Porter)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
