Saturday, February 19, 2011

Steve Jobs action figure killed by Apple Legal ... again


Those goofy guys over at M.I.C. Gadget must have had too many unsold Steve Jobs Action Figures lying around to just sit on, so they tried disguising him by adding a Ninja Face Mask and renaming him "Pineapple CEO." Sadly, it was just a tad too obvious, and Apple told them to stop selling the figure. According to the site's blog post, Apple hit them up with the cease-and-desist order on Thursday, Feb. 17.

M.I.C. Gadget was selling a Steve Jobs Action Figure back in November of 2010. Apple told them to halt sales of that, as well. This new figure appears to be the same one, with the addition of the aforementioned mask and ninja throwing stars, perhaps a reference to the prior unconfirmed story about a "shuriken incident" involving Jobs in Japan.

The "Pineapple CEO" had been available online for $89. It was obvious this would happen, and since M.I.C. Gadget seems reluctant to trash its remaining Action Figures, it's possible it will happen again, in some still different form.

Here's what M.I.C. Gadget said Apple told them:
“Mr. Jobs has not consented to the use of his name and/or image in the Product. Unauthorized use of a person’s name and/or likeness constitutes a violation of California Civil Code Section 3344, which prohibits the use of any person’s name, photograph or likeness in a product without that person’s prior consent… The figure and its stand are replications of Mr. Jobs image and Apple’s trademark. The thin attempt to “disguise” the figure in its current iteration does not impact the fact that you are plainly trading on Mr. Jobs image.”
Thinly disguised is actually giving M.I.C. Gadget too much credit. Still, it was nice while it lasted.

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