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These are not the lasers you're looking for, but maybe this cease-and-desist letter is ...

By Richard Binder

Via Techdirt:

Earlier this month Lucasfilms Ltd. sent a cease-and-desist letter to a Hong Kong-based company named Wicked Lasers, whose latest high-powered product too closely resembled the lightsaber from Lucas' Star Wars films.  The letter called the Pro Arctic laser "a highly dangerous product with the potential to cause blindness, burns and other damage to people and/or property."

While the letter didn't say that Wicked Lasers made any reference to the term "lightsaber" in its marketing materials, Lucasfilms noted that various blogs, like Gizmodo and Daily Tech, made the comparison and therefore "[made] it clear that the public is being led to believe that the Pro Arctic Laser is an official lightsaber device" copied from the Star Wars design.

Steve Liu, CEO of Wicked Lasers, said they've been making similar lasers for years and never compared them to anything in the Lucas films.

Wicked Lasers is indulging in some payback, though: they're auctioning off the cease-and-desist letter on eBay.  Although the letter is not signed by Lucas himself, the eBay page suggests that it comes from David Anderman, described by law.com as "enforcer of Lucasfilm's worldwide intellectual property."

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on July 19, 2010 (boomark / email).