Battle of the Bumblebees

Variety is reporting that Hasbro is suing DC to prevent them from using the name Bumblebee.  

Hasbro, owner of the Transformers brand, filed a lawsuit on Monday accusing Warner Bros. and DC Comics of trademark infringement. The suit claims that the DC “Bumblebee” — a teenage girl with the ability to shrink — could easily be confused with the Autobot “Bumblebee.”

Hasbro has a lot riding on the “Bumblebee” character, set to star in the first Transformers spinoff, which is due in theaters at Christmas 2018.

The company is now seeking to block the sales of Mattel’s Bumblebee toy, which is part of the DC Super Hero Girls line of action figures. Hasbro is also concerned about a Bumblebee Lego set.

...

“Defendants’ and/or their licensees’ use of the Accused Mark is likely to cause consumers mistakenly to believe that the Accused Goods emanate from or are otherwise associated with Hasbro,” the suit alleges. “Such improper use of the Accused Mark by Defendants and/or their licensees is likely to cause confusion, mistake and/or deception among the public as to the source of the
Accused Goods.”

Source: Variety

Commentary: I wanna know who exactly would be confused between this character...

and this character:

I get that Hasbro copyrighted the name, but DC's Bumblebee debuted in 1977, a full 7 years before the Transformer did.  This whole thing could end up exploding in Hasbro's face.  It all just seems like a strange and petty choice.  There is no one ever who would confuse these two characters.  Personally, Bumblebee was always my favorite Transformer (though only when he was a VW Beetle), and I think Bumblebee has come into her own in DC Superhero Girls. Let's have two great Bumblebees and throw this dumn lawsuit out.