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Lucasfilm Calls Copyright Infringement on Wicked Lasers’ Non-Lightsaber Lightsaber

by Susana Polo | 12:55 pm, July 7th, 2010

Wicked Lasers are the makers of a $199 retail laser that can burn flesh and cause blindness, and two weeks ago, Lucasfilm Ltd. sent them a letter that threatened legal action if the company did not alter the design of its Pro Arctic Laser or stop selling it altogether.  According to Lucasfilm, “it is apparent from the design of the Pro Arctic Laser that it was intended to resemble the hilts of our lightsaber swords, which are protected by copyright.”

The letter doesn’t accuse Wicked Lasers of promoting the lasers as lightsabers, but instead cites media coverage that frequently drew parallels between the two.

Steve Liu, CEO of Wicked Lasers, told CNN:

Most people feel it’s kind of ridiculous… We would never use any comparison like that to ‘Star Wars’ or a lightsaber or anything like that.

Now, after an initial gut reaction to be exasperated with anything that resembles George Lucas trying to get money out of people, we reconsidered, and decided that it’s actually only natural that Lucasfilm doesn’t want one of their most popular children’s toys to be associated with a device that “can possibly cause cancer,” blindness, and burns.  But… can a company really take the fault for a bunch of sci-fi nerd bloggers who say that their stuff looks like Star Wars?

They can when their lasers look like lightsabers.  And they look.  Like.  Lightsabers.

For comparison, here’s what the company’s other pointers look like:

Oh, and how does Liu feel about Star Wars in general?

Personally, they’re some of my favorite movies.

Orly?

  • http://twitter.com/CRZ CRZ

    They look like sonic screwdrivers to me…

  • R315r4z0r

    How else are they supposed to design the thing? In order to make a high-powered laser… they have to design the casing to look like that. Why should they spend extra money to add on more to the design of the thing (effectively costing the consumers more money) just so they can pussyfoot around Lucas’ definition of his own imagination?

    If I’m understanding this article, anything that is cylindrical has the potential to look like a light saber if a beam of light can be shot from it.. That’s retarded!

    They aren’t copying light sabers, that’s just how a hand-held laser is designed…

  • Pks29733steel

    Ummm, I’d say around midnite at a ‘Drink or Drown’ drinking party I would say they would look like George Lucas. At 2am I would probably say they would look like ‘R2D2′.

  • forrest

    I have flashlights that were made in the 1940′s that look like “lightsabres TM”. I even have flashlights with cones on them used for signaling that really look like “lightsabres TM”. When I take a pee it looks like a stupid friggin “lightsabre TM”. George Lucas is a greedy S.O.B. and his last couple of “Star WarsTM” movies sucked goat scrotums!


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