Lucasfilm faces a legal scuffle over Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny after an American bag maker alleged the studio used its products without permission to promote a competitor.
“Indiana Jones, an eccentric archaeologist, is known for stealing priceless artefacts while dodging giant, rolling boulders,” began Frost River's legal complaint, which was filed earlier this week and spotted by The Hollywood Reporter. “Not unlike its character, Lucasfilm had no qualms misappropriating Frost River’s successful ‘Geologist Pack’, and other Frost River products for use in the film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”
Frost River has been producing the Geologist pack at the centre of the controversy for over 10 years now, and being fair, the soft leather, wax canvas knapsack does look like a good choice for your average tomb raiding, Nazi-battling archaeologist.
According to the complaint, Lucasfilm used the Geologists pack and its ‘Simple Book Pack’ as part of its marketing campaign for the fifth Indiana Jones movie. This saw the release of a feature trailer, clips, and stills of the titular adventurer wearing the bags - the identifying outer branding of which had been removed - and carrying them through Sicily.
Lucasfilm then allegedly authorised Filson, a direct competitor to Frost River that also makes backpacks, to run a co-branded campaign promoting the movie. Part of this campaign saw the partners create a 60-second video from Filson imagery and clips from the movie, some of which featured the Geologist pack.
Frost River, a self described “small American company”, is now suing “corporate juggernauts” Lucasfilm and Filson on the grounds they mislead the public as to the origin of the bags in a way that promoted its competitor. According to the complaint, this constitutes a breach under Section 43 (a) of the Lanham Act, for which it is seeking remedies, including damages of “no less than $75,000”, attorneys’ fees and costs, and any “further relief as the Court may deem just and proper”.
“Liability under the Lanham Act for misappropriating Frost River’s products is a boulder that Lucasfilm and Filson cannot dodge,” summarised the complaint.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
