Hasbro sues Asus in Transformer war

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Toy maker Hasbro has reportedly kicked off legal proceedings with Asus over the use of the Transformer Prime name, in one of the stranger litigation cases of 2011.

Hasbro owns certain trademarks of the Transformers franchise, which many will know from the classic cartoons of the 90s or the poorly-rated Michael Bay films.

Many will also remember how the leader of the Autobots – the good guys who fought the evil Decepticons – was called Optimus Prime.

Hasbro has taken umbrage with what it believes is appropriation of the name for the Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet.

"The specific actions we are taking today against Asus underscores yet again Hasbro’s willingness to pursue companies who misappropriate our intellectual property for their own financial gain," a spokesperson said.

The Android-based Eee Pad Transformer Prime has been receiving some fairly positive reviews, so Asus will be hoping nothing will upset its progress.

The tablet market is still dominated by iPad, with Android-based devices still floundering when compared to Apple's massive sales.

The original Eee Pad Transformer was given a positive review from IT Pro in May, when it received five stars out of the maximum six.

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