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NEWS: Florida Company Sues Fox for Alleged Infringement of 'Battle Angel' Trademark


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Netero



Joined: 10 Jun 2018
Posts: 166
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 8:03 am Reply with quote
Arale Kurashiki wrote:
The point is that this company is crawling out of the woodwork for the Hollywood version as if it's new.

Not that I have any particular sympathy for Epic Stone, but in fairness it's worth pointing out that getting a lawsuit together can take a long time. Especially if, as I suspect may be happening here, you've been looking for attorneys who will act on a no-win-no-fee basis.

But in the end it's for the courts to decide, because the case can be dismissed if in the opinion of the judge, the plaintiff has delayed filing suit for no good reason (including maybe figuring they'd get more in damages if they left it longer).

Last edited by Netero on Thu Jan 31, 2019 8:04 am; edited 1 time in total
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Mogalike



Joined: 04 Sep 2008
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 8:04 am Reply with quote
It's 100% a copyright and trademark troll company. They also claim ownership of "The Independence Day" (sic), "The Million Dollar Man," "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea," and "Captain Nemo," strictly for the purposes of taking movie, game, and comic studios to court.
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Chrono1000





PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 8:59 am Reply with quote
I notice that the lawsuit doesn't even mention that the movie is based on an existing franchise from Japan that has been around since 1990. Also it took a while to find but the company does have a website which is worth a glance:

https://battleangel1.com/
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KittyEponine
ANN Staff


Joined: 07 Mar 2018
Posts: 53
Location: Philippines
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 9:46 am Reply with quote
I am a bit lost on what they are fighting for tbh.
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Sukottosan



Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 10:29 am Reply with quote
KittyEponine wrote:
I am a bit lost on what they are fighting for tbh.


Money?
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Ushio



Joined: 31 Jul 2005
Posts: 630
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:03 am Reply with quote
Replica_Rabbit wrote:
That company doesn't have a leg to stand on, Battle Angel Alita was out before there trademark. This lawsuit is a waste of time and money, I don't know what they hoping to get.



Did the author take out a trademark in the USA? if he didn't then it doesn't matter.
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CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:09 am Reply with quote
Battle Angel was used as the English name for the OAV that was released in North America and Europe twenty-four years ago. The manga was first published under the title Battle Angel Alita around that same time. Try again, copyright trolls.
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fuuma_monou



Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 1822
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 11:12 am Reply with quote
Ushio wrote:
Replica_Rabbit wrote:
That company doesn't have a leg to stand on, Battle Angel Alita was out before there trademark. This lawsuit is a waste of time and money, I don't know what they hoping to get.



Did the author take out a trademark in the USA? if he didn't then it doesn't matter.


As mentioned in a previous post, the Japanese title is GUNNM. Viz held the "Battle Angel Alita" trademark in the U.S. Presumably the trademark was transferred to Kodansha when Viz lost the license to the manga.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4470
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:09 pm Reply with quote
Arale Kurashiki wrote:
teferi wrote:
Arale Kurashiki wrote:
fuuma_monou wrote:
But the "Battle Angel Alita" trademark is a lot older.

Yeah, but American companies have a hard time acknowledging that japanese art existed before they stole it.


Considering the title in Japan is, "GUNNM" that's a weird point to make about a trademark dispute over the title of the series that was used in the US and for the movie.

It's still a title used for the actual work over here. The point is that this company is crawling out of the woodwork for the Hollywood version as if it's new.


Yeah, the timing of it is pretty suspicious. It's not like the fact the movie was in various stages of production for years was any secret. Waiting until it's about to hit theaters sounds like somebody trying to get a movie studio to pay them a little something to just go away.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13580
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:26 pm Reply with quote
Mogalike wrote:
It's 100% a copyright and trademark troll company. They also claim ownership of "The Independence Day" (sic), "The Million Dollar Man," "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea," and "Captain Nemo," strictly for the purposes of taking movie, game, and comic studios to court.


I agree. Your listed items are mentioned here: trademarks.justia.com/owners/epic-stone-group-2212681. The last 2 trademarks of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea," and "Captain Nemo" seem fishy to me. Both have been public domain for decades. Now if two companies have the same trademark for the same type of product or service (for example, "Captain Nemo" for the name of a film company), then a lawsuit seems justifiable.

The following is the USPTO database for the "Battle Angel" trademark. The difference is that I added the colons and spacing for clarity:
"Word Mark: BATTLE ANGEL
Goods and Services: IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: Action figure toys; Positionable toy figures; Toy action figures and accessories therefor; Toy figures; toy robots. FIRST USE: 20140807. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20140807

"Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code: (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number: 85687840
Filing Date: July 26, 2012
Current Basis: 1A
Original Filing Basis: 1B
Published for Opposition: July 16, 2013
Registration Number: 4629131
Registration Date: October 28, 2014
Owner (REGISTRANT): Epic Stone Group CORPORATION FLORIDA 1825 Ponce de Leon Blvd., #414 Coral Gables, FL 33134 FLORIDA 33134
Prior Registrations: 3671739
Type of Mark: TRADEMARK
Register: PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator: LIVE"
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Chrono1000





PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:32 pm Reply with quote
KittyEponine wrote:
I am a bit lost on what they are fighting for tbh.
They are hoping to make a lot of money. There is a reason that the lawsuit is asking for a jury trial and that is because they are hoping to find enough people that will ignore the overwhelming past evidence and will instead accept the theory that their product line which consists of 2 stickers and a cheap action figure is being ripped off by the huge Hollywood studio. The idea is to do for trademarks what other companies have done with patents.
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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 1:37 pm Reply with quote
As an aside, why did they change the title from Battle Angel Alita to Alita: Battle Angel for the film?

Last edited by Lemonchest on Thu Jan 31, 2019 1:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
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DerekL1963
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Joined: 14 Jan 2015
Posts: 1116
Location: Puget Sound
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 1:37 pm Reply with quote
CatSword wrote:
Battle Angel was used as the English name for the OAV that was released in North America and Europe twenty-four years ago. The manga was first published under the title Battle Angel Alita around that same time.


IANAL, but AIUI...

Those things establish copyright, they do not establish trademarks - which require a formal process to establish. Epic Stone Group probably faces an uphill battle because of the pre-existing use of the words "Battle Angel"... But if no trademark was ever filed for "Battle Angel Alita", so does Fox.

Trademark law is not only different from copyright law, it's murkier. And the intersection between the two is murkier still.

(Again, IANAL, but AIUI.)

Quote:
Try again, copyright trolls.


Trademark, not copyright. The two are not the same and this particular case the difference is crucial.
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Mogalike



Joined: 04 Sep 2008
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 1:38 pm Reply with quote
Chrono1000 wrote:
I notice that the lawsuit doesn't even mention that the movie is based on an existing franchise from Japan that has been around since 1990. Also it took a while to find but the company does have a website which is worth a glance:

https://battleangel1.com/


Oh that is ROUGH too. Sticker design is definitely a knockoff of Kishiro's design for Gally/Alita but in a "graffiti" style, and the action figure is a straight recast of a Bandai HG Gundam kit with butterfly wings glued on.
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Zendervai



Joined: 06 Apr 2012
Posts: 197
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2019 2:30 pm Reply with quote
Lemonchest wrote:
As an aside, why did they change the title from Battle Angel Alita to Alita: Battle Angel for the film?


Because every project headlined by James Cameron (he was going to direct it, but is focused on Avatar) starts with an A or a T. (Except Piranha 2, but there he got handed a half-finished movie). That's barely even a joke.
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