Hasbro sues Asus over Transformer Prime tablet

Hasbro sued Asus over the name of its Transformer Prime tablet last week, in a federal district court. The toymaker is no doubt worried that the name could be confused with that of its Transformers franchise, not to mention Optimus Prime, the lead protagonist of the animation and film series… though we're not quite sure how a robot that transforms into a semi-truck could be confused with a tablet and detachable keyboard. Who knows, maybe dad may accidentally buy the wrong Christmas present for little Pete.

Perhaps Hasbro is worried that tablet buyers might see it as a licensed product. Hasbro has already sent out a generic statement about its willingness to “aggressively protect its brands”. According to court filings, Hasbro's attempting to seal the actual complaint, but we can also see that the company's pursuing a preliminary injunction against Asus as we speak. The court has given Asus 21 days to respond to the complaint.

According to the filing, Hasbro's citing trademarks 2455261, 3689720, 3468487, 76690677 and 85008156. Notably, the last one is a pending trademark for “Transformers Prime,” its 2010 animated series. Hasbro would hold that particular trademark for toys, board games, and animated shows.