Hasbro sues ASUS over Transformer Prime Name

Toymaker Hasbro, who owns the Transformers toy line, is suing ASUS over the name of their new Android tablet called the Transformer Prime.

Hasbro has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, accusing ASUS of violating their trademark by using the same name as their action figures The Transformers.

Hasbro continues to aggressively protect its brands and products and 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, Hasbro told Paid Content.

The toy company hopes to ban the Transformer Prime device completely and receive compensation for damages, especially made against one of their Transformer figures called the Optimus Prime.

The Transformer Prime is ASUS's latest Eee pad tablet, which launched for pre-orders the last week. Since its release the product has seen some delays, with some most tablets in the U.S. unlikely to be shipping until 202.

Customers, who ordered the tablet ahead of the holiday season, faced a string of emails from Best Buy and Amazon that stated considerable delays. Amazon showed a backlog of between 4-7 weeks, while Best Buy claimed the gadget would reach customers by the first half of January.

ASUS enthusiasts have been venting their frustration in ASUS forums, saying that they had hoped to get the tablet as Christmas gifts in time for the holiday. Both Best Buy and Amazon are offering their clients full refunds for cancellation of the product.

The Eee Pad Transformer Prime is the first tablet to herald the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor. It is ultra-thin at 8.3mm and weighs only 586g and comes with state-of-the-art SonicMaster Audio technology, an HD 8MP rear auto-focus camera with LED flash. And all with an 18-hour battery-left when combined with the mobile dock.

Pricing in the U.S will range from $499 (32GB) to $599** (64GB), with the optional mobile dock accessory priced at $149.