Why Was Certain Stuff Lauren Wanted Not Allowed

[Red Cedar 1,407]

Applejack is a more original sounding name, so would be easier to claim a trademark over.

 

I imagine with more generic names like "Firefly", "Posey", and "Twilight" there were competing toy companies that also had legitimate claims to the names, possibly claims that predated Hasbro's.

 

I did a bit of looking up on the U.S. Trademark office's website. The word "applejack" or some variation of it is trademarked hundreds of times. It's used for many different things, however, which is why multiple individuals are allowed to use the name. Applejack as a pony name wasn't trademarked until 2010, after the show began airing.

 

To the best of my ability to check, none of the original pony names were trademarked at all. Of course, in the 80's, the entire database of trademarks wasn't online to search through easily, so there was probably a lot of implied trademarking of names going on on the assumption that no one would take the time and effort to check.

 

From a business standpoint, there's one other reason I could see for Hasbro to insist on using the names from G3 ponies besides the fact that they were already trademarked. They were, after all, rebooting the entire brand - toys, cartoons and all - when they went to FiM, so using the names of G3 ponies was probably seen as a measure to indicate some continuity among the target audience by presenting ponies who, although different, had familiar names. This continuity would have brought the young fans on board with the new line a little more easily, from a marketing perspective.

 

As it was, it seems that the names of the ponies were the only things Lauren was required to change, not their personalities or even their designs in some cases. Rainbow Dash's personality is that of Firefly. Same with Pinkie Pie and Surprise. And when you take into account the differences in art style, Rarity is identical to Sparkler, right down to the cutie mark.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Red Cedar