How Lucasfilm Filed a Trademark Lawsuit Over a Porn Film Called "Starballz"

Here's a tremendous example of how parodies tend to not count in lawsuits regarding intellectual property -- something you have to keep in mind when branding your properties. Anyone can poke fun at your stuff. Look at Mel Brooks, for example: "Spaceballs," for crying out loud! That film OOZED of Star Wars merchandise and branding, and you'd think Lucasfilm would've jumped on that one to protect their IP stuff like they did on numerous other occasions. They didn't, though, and here's why:

A Long Time Ago (in a Galaxy Far, Far Away), Lucasfilm Tried Suiing One Media Group for an Animated Porn Movie Called "Starballz"

You can laugh. This is for real. What you're looking at is a still shot of the animated hentai (which is anime language for "porn"), featuring similar imagery along with characters like "W___ Solo" (just try to imagine the first name they used) and a furry character known as "Chewhowie." Cute.

We Can Imagine, Though, That There's a Line to Draw on the Galactic Sand Here

Using actual design imagery and clips, though, could get this hentai porn in hot water. I honestly don't feel too keen on seeing the actual C3PO doing anything nasty with an ewok.

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.

Why No One Can Use the "Jedi" Term When Talking About Mind Control

Lucasfilm's stingy, aren't they, with their intellectual property? After all, the name JEDI is completely unique -- so under patent and trademark law, it would stand to reason that any reference to that term would mean they're directly relating to Star Wars. It stinks, though, because no one simply wants to be a "mind reader," "telepath," "empath" or "object mind-mover" (we couldn't come up with anything better than that). Being a JEDI? That's pretty cool.

It Turns Out a Company Once Called "Jedi Mind" Sought to Leverage That Pop Culture in Their Product Manufacturing 

Jedi Mind was once a company dedicated to manufacturing all sorts of digital products, such as wireless headsets designed to "detect brainwaves," very much like how a Jedi moves objects. Pretty cool idea until Lucasfilm got involved and demanded with a cease-and-desist letter that they change their name.

Amazingly, Lucasfilm not only trademarked the term "Jedi," but even everything about them -- namely everything from the Jedi robes, to the actual Force, and even the "Force Lightning" Emperor Palpatine can do. Even light sabers have been trademarked (and in many respects, patented). So anyone using the term or any relation thereof would be in danger of patent law violation.

Needless to Say, Jedi Mind Was Forced to Change Their Business Name

It was inevitable given Lucasfilm's lawsuit of $5MM in damages in 2010, claiming that the company Jedi Mind failed to comply. Jedi Mind thought fast and officially and legally changed their name to "Mind Technologies" (infinitely less cooler than "Jedi Mind"), and the rest is history.