Court gets the wookies over a flying-car suit
Imagine a world where the sky is the limit and cars can take off from a vertical launching pad, shooting straight up into the heavens. If you’re a Star Wars fan, this type of technological advancement doesn’t seem far fetched: it’s the T-65 X-Wing Starfighter. And for Joseph Alfred, it doesn’t seem like an idea incapable of grasping here on this planet. So why on Earth did Alfred sue the Walt Disney Co. in Delaware’s Court of Chancery? Because Disney wouldn’t accept his idea to build a real flying car. Make sense? The court didn’t think so either, and shot his plans down. The court dismissed the case for two main reasons: a lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim for which relief could be granted. (A mighty Mickey thanks to the Hollywood Reporter Esq. for posting the case decision online). None of the parties in the suit, including Alfred, had applicable legal ties to Delaware. Alfred tried his luck since Disney is a Delaware corporation. But the court also dismissed the case because of the absence of a claim. Meaning? Disney has a trademark in the design for a T-65 X-Wing Starfighter plane depicted in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. This means, basically, that only Disney can make anything that can easily be confused with its flying car, otherwise the other guy will be in for some major Mickey disapproval. Alfred asserted that a company that he pulled out of the...
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