DeLorean summons NBCUniversal to court over alleged trademark abuse

NBCUniversal is facing trial for violating the DeLorean trademark, which the company has been using for merchandise and products related to the Back to the Future movie franchise. According to Reuters, the defendant had asked to dismiss the lawsuit, but the California Federal Court sided with the applicant – the modern DeLorean Motor Company. At the same time, Judge David Carter ruled that DMC had no right to claim that NBCU violated the agreement with the original car manufacturer.

Back in 1989, Amblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures struck a deal with John DeLorean regarding the commercial use of the DeLorean DMC-12 trademark, emblem and appearance. The iconic Time Machine has since been prominently featured in merchandise and other commercial products of these companies. DMC received a 5% royalty fee.

However, the original DeLorean Motor Company went bankrupt in 1982. A number of its assets, including a large inventory of cars and spare parts in the USA, blueprints and other documents, were subsequently purchased by Consolidated International. In 1995, Texas-based vehicle restorer Stephen Wynne founded his own company that he called DMC Texas. He registered a stylized version of the original DMC logo and acquired some assets of the original company in 1997. In 2020, a dispute occurred between Wynne and the successors of John DeLorean. Once it was resolved, NBCU began paying royalty fees to the resurrected DeLorean Motor Co.

Wynne’s company took matters to court in late 2022 when it found the royalty fees inadequate. The lawsuit mentioned that NBCU illegally used the DMC-12 in the movie Ready Player One, in Universal Studios theme parks, as well as in many toy series and other merchandise. Allegedly, the royalties from these uses have never been properly acknowledged or paid.