Watch out for imitations! A Chilean company, in the suburbs of Santiago, has created a concept of fast car wash totally inspired by the theme “Star Wars”, designed to offer a five-star service, where the employees are the various characters from the saga, from the powerful figure of Darth Vader to the friendly giant Chewbacca.
The strategy worked, with some media coverage in the local media. But it was when owner Matias Jara began the process of registering the “Star Wash” brand with the Chilean patent office that the themed car wash project started to go wrong…
The entrepreneur’s legal team received a lawsuit from Lucasfilm, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios since 2012, for violation of intellectual property rights.
Jara explains that the idea came from one of his daughters, inspired after a visit to Disneyland in the USA. And while the American film producer claimed that the car wash brand could give people the incorrect impression that it was associated with the Star Wars brand, the owner contested the lawsuit, arguing that the name is different enough to avoid any confusion.
“We don’t make movies or sell their products or anything like that,” he said, emphasizing that Star Wash offers a “stellar” car cleaning service.
“Of course, this process is affecting us. We are a small company and we are incurring expenses that were not planned,” he added.
The resolution of this dispute will be continued in the next chapters…
