Here's the True Trademark Story About How BUMBLEBEE Was NEVER Actually Bumblebee

Bear with me here. We know we threw you for a loop, all of you faithful TRANSFORMER fans, especially of the lovely yellow Camaro kind. You know who we're talking about, correct? That's right: Bumblebee.

You're Telling Me That Bumblebee at One Point Had a Different Name?

Absolutely. Who would've thought, right? The fact is even to this day the name "Bumblebee" isn't a trademarked name with the TRANSFORMERS line of toys; and, yet, we know that yellow Camaro quite well. Yet Hasbro in their infinite Energon power couldn't get to filing a trademark for the name because of one little company.... Called Playcore.

A company manufacturing baby toys? Look it up. Seriously. The giant autobots lost to freakin' play swings. In fact, the registered trademark for the term bumblebee resided with their particular line of swings known as "Buzz the Bumble Bee" since 2003. Hasbro, unfortunately, hadn't used the name since 1995, making their case to earn the right to trademark the name a pretty weak one at that.

Still, when a particular 2-pack of toys got released featuring Spike Witwicky and a certain yellow car -- together known as the "Autobot Espionage Team" -- the bio on the back of the packaging actually listed the characters as "Spike" -- and "Bumblebee." Yet, Hasbro officially never trademarked the name.

The fact that there could've been a looming cease-and-desist from a certain baby toy manufacturer, Hasbro even tried playing damage control as the Armada franchise was released with that same Camaro transformer.... Only he was not named "Bumblebee." He was named HOT SHOT.

You Can Bet Hasbro Tried to Claim the Trademark Later On, Especially as the Familiar Films Started "Rolling Out"

It was going to be a war in 2005, March, as Hasbro marched in to claim that trademark against all odds. It happened, though, but against two competitors -- Bumble Bee Productions, Inc., and Bumblebee Toys. The issue, you can imagine, was the fact that each party in this legal case resided within the same industry: toys. So there couldn't be any confusion.

Sadly.... Hasbro had to abandon its attempt to register the trademark for the name of Bumblebee in 2006, opting for a more "normal" creative license of the name (since it is, in fact, the name of a particular insect). So now you know: BUMBLEBEE isn't really who he says he is. He's just a transformer with a nickname. And not a legal name.