How Star Wars Stuck It to Gangster Rap's Dr. Dre and a Trademarked "Sound"

This is, by far, how far trademark law and patent law could actually go -- only in this industry can someone file a lawsuit on something completely unrelated as this! Yes, it turned out that in this legal history of a brand such as Star Wars, LucasFilm even sued one Dr. Dre (the same Dre of NWA fame and Snoop Dogg) for preceding one of his tracks after -- get this -- that THX deep note sound you heard at the very beginning of some of the Star Wars films.

It Was Literally the First Time in Legal History That a "Sound" Was Ever Trademarked

You know what we're talking about: when the THX logo shows up on the screen, and that familiar deep note crescendoes up to a high galactic pitch, almost capable of cracking glasses. It became a staple of surround sound technology, and here's the kicker: Lucasfilm owned that sound given THX was a division of the studio up until 2001.

That made Lucasfilm the owner of not only the AV-standards company THX, but the logo, the sound -- everything. Hence no one better touch any aspect of it.

Dr. Dre Tried to Get Permission in Using That THX Deep Note Intro

Lucasfilm refused. And the company had every right to refuse. Of course, being the gangster rapper he was, Dre went ahead and pulled the audio anyway and used it on one of his tracks. Lucasfilm found out, however, and the rest is history.

That's one lawsuit you'd never expect a gangster rapper to ever face.