One of the first ever Pixar shorts of all time (and still one of the most popular) is Luxo Jr. I am sure you've seen it, and I love it. But, poor Luxo Jr. is now finding himself in a courtroom battling the Luxo company.
Why? Pixar has always had a Luxo lamp as its logo, right? Why should Luxo sue Disney now? Well, the reason is that Disney is releasing a new product, a limited edition replica of Luxo Jr. coupled with the Up Blu-ray, and the Luxo company doesn't like Disney making money off of its product.
Luxo and the animation company have had a long standing agreement, which, according to the Norway-based lamp company, does not include the manufacturing of actual goods with the Luxo name.
I think that Luxo doesn't care whatsoever about Disney making the lamps, and just found this as an opportunity to make some cash. What I'd do if I were Disney is just buy up the Luxo company. They just bought Marvel for $4 billion, and I'm sure Disney could afford a lamp company.
Source: Bloomberg
Monday, September 7, 2009
Luxo Jr. Heads to Court
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You can say that it's an opportunity for a "money grab" if you like, but I'm siding with the lamp company on this one. Luxo makes powder finsihed steel lamps that are very high quality and last forever. Disney comes along and makes a *plastic* lamp called "Luxo Jr." as a promotional item? Luxo has every right to protect their reputation against knock-off products. They also legally holdthe name "Luxo" a trademark: No other company can manufacture lighting products under the name "Luxo" except Luxo.
Disney is very active in protecting it's properties from knock-offs. This is really the same thing. Disney should have known better.
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