US Wings cease & desist?

Post by **Mike** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:28 pm

_ wrote:Man! A guy leaves the country for few weeks and all heck breaks loose...

How'd you sneak back in?!

Hope you're rested and reinvigorated!

Mike

JerseyJones · Post by **JerseyJones** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:37 pm

There is a difference with Wested in that they actually provided the garments for the production in 1980. they cannot say they are the "official" indy jacket, but they are within their rights to state the truth, which is that they are the makers of the original jacket used in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" because they are.

Its a fine line, but when the truth is on your side, that helps. There's a lot more IP theory out there on this too, but that's a VERY general explanation.

JJ

SEE DISCLAIMER ABOVE - NOT OFFICIAL LEGAL ADVICE

Vivli wrote:
WeeMadHamish wrote: I think the difference is this: The Stormtrooper costume is an iconic design immediately recognizable as belonging to the Star Wars universe (LFL's IP) and ONLY to the Star Wars universe. "Indy" gear, on the other hand, has a basis in real-world design and is in itself not as inherently iconic until you put it all together. It's just a jacket, until you put it together with the hat and the whip. They're clothes, and not as immediately recognizable as the white armor.

LFL has a responsibility to protect not only itself, but its licensees, from illicit use of its intellectual property. If they choose to overlook a violation of their IP for whatever reason, it sets a precedent that can cause them all sorts of legal problems when a real challenge to their property arises.

It's surprising, though, that this would be an issue for US Wings, since they /were/ a licensee at some point, weren't they?
Okay, that makes a lot more sense. Although I suppose now US Wings have lost the licence, it means that they're pretty much in the same boat as any other vendor, and so can't use the name.

Would it be a problem for Peter at Wested too though? I mean, he uses the copyrighted name in a sense, writing on his website that he made the Indy jackets specifically etc. I only ask 'cause I'd hate to see Peter get in trouble, since he's such an amazing guy and works so hard on creating these replicas for us.

I mean, I know I'm probably being a bit paranoid, but if US Wings had to stop using it and they were an licensee at one point, I can imagine the same thing happening to Wested.

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:39 pm

Well, in the same breath, JJ, Wings/Cooper actually made the jackets used in TofD in 1984, so they're in the same boat as Wested in that respect.

Regard! Michaelson