The Odd, Crazy Connection Between Disney's Darkwing Duck and Hasbro

We've been talking a lot about Transformers, and Hasbro, lately, given the marketing for the newest film TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT. Isn't it obvious? Lots of explosions, action, mayhem. Crazy stuff. Everyone loves it, it's a cash-in buy and grab for a brand that's continually selling out like hotcakes even if the stories and films don't seem to suspend disbelief so well. Who cares? We just want to watch Optimus Prime kick some Decepticon butt.

This Particular Story, Though, Will Kick YOUR Butt When You Read It: It's About Disney. You Know, That Other Big Company Known for Lots of Trademark Lawsuits.

And Hasbro wanted to be sure to put all their ducks in a row and ensure they don't get into any legal hot water, especially since Hasbro is a dedicated licensee for plenty of Disney-owned properties. You don't expect Disney to have any stake in the type of work Hasbro does, particularly in the films, although they could given their ownership of Marvel and some of the action you see.

But this isn't necessarily about the Transformers. It's about a cartoon we all love: Darkwing Duck. You remember that cartoon? It just so happens that Hasbro back in 2008 made a smart move with one of their toy lines to never have to worry about any trademark dilution -- because, as you know, Disney's a stickler for a lot of trademark and copyright issues. If Disney or Lucasfilm ever catches anyone using the term light saber, there will be problems.

Rather, Hasbro has redesigned their Generation 1 Darkwing transformer for that exact reason: to ensure there was no confusion between their Darkwing, and Disney's Darkwing (Duck). The redeco was done back 2008, for the Universe Silverbolt line, as they changed the name of the transformer from Darkwing.... To DarkWIND. Clever.

You Can't Confuse DarkWIND With DarkWING (Duck). That's for Sure.

It's sad, though, that Hasbro didn't even think that at some point they should've registered the trademark for "Darkwing" long before Disney started launching their cartoons, starting with Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers, Tailspin -- and, of course, Darkwing Duck.

The thing is you don't think of that. After all, Darkwing Duck is not a transformer. You'll hardly confuse the two. But when it comes to trademark law, trademark dilution is also a big deal. And it just so happens that there's not enough room for two Darkwings in a courtroom.

Good job, Hasbro.