Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Star Wars' creator says laser too much like lightsaber


Update

(CNN) -- "Star Wars" creator George Lucas wants to force a laser company to stop making a new, high-powered product he says looks too much like the famous lightsaber from his classic sci-fi series.

Lucasfilm Ltd. has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Hong Kong-based Wicked Lasers, threatening legal action if it doesn't change its Pro Arctic Laser series or stop selling it altogether.

"It is apparent from the design of the Pro Arctic Laser that it was intended to resemble the hilts of our lightsaber swords, which are protected by copyright ... ," said the letter, dated last month and provided to CNN by Wicked Lasers.

The letter calls the company's newest laser "a highly dangerous product with the potential to cause blindness, burns and other damage to people and/or property."

Steve Liu, CEO of Wicked Lasers, said his 7-year-old company has been selling similar lasers for years and has never compared the product to the Jedi weapon wielded by Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and others in the "Star Wars" franchise.

"Most people feel it's kind of ridiculous ...," he said. "We would never use any comparison like that to 'Star Wars' or a lightsaber or anything like that."

He called the $199 gadget's design fairly typical for a handheld laser and said it isn't a copy of the lightsaber. read the rest here




Share/Bookmark

No comments:

Post a Comment