Lucasfilm caught in lawsuit for Indiana Jones backpack
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a certified flop, only just becoming profitable a week ago at $302 million. Now, it stands at $312 million since July 21. But, to make matters even worse, it seems the company is caught up in a lawsuit by a clothing brand over the title character’s backpack.
As reported by Hollywood Reporter, American clothing brand Frost River is accusing Lucasfilm and competing brand Filson of “exploiting the hard work and intellectual property” of the small company.
The movie features Indy lugging around a knapsack-designed backpack with drawstrings that Frost River alleges is their design, but not wanting to get permission to use the brand, the Dial of Destiny team scraped off the identifying logos.
Lucasfilm also partnered with clothing brand Filson to take part in the promotion of the film, including a trailer with footage spliced in of actors wearing their products. Frost River believes this marketing tactic decides the audience by making them think this backpack was a product from them, and thus is violating the Lanham Act, which is a federal trademark law.
We can’t say for sure how far this suit will go, as they are facing a pretty powerful opponent. While Lucasfilm might not be as reputable as it once was, it still has a direct connection to Disney as a subsidiary, and thus a supplementary legal team if needed. We’ll have to wait and see how things shake out.
