Ben Wodecki

Well before Disney purchased Star Wars from George Lucas for $4bn, the IP surrounding Star Wars was highly contested in numerous legal battles. But whats the IP like IN the Star Wars universe? We would be honoured if you would join us to find out I once extensively outlined whether there are IP laws in the Star Trek universe . But when it comes to doing the same for Star Wars, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Like any good lawyer should say to you when asking about a case - ‘it depends.’ Before all else, there are two major hurdles to overcome - the first being the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars. The difference is that the former is science fiction and the latter is science fantasy. The difference? Substantial. Star Trek is built of modern-day science and facts - we understand warp speed, how ships get from A to B and have spent countless decades of television episodes across several series dedicated to the technology used to transport our characters.

In Star Wars, however, which only recently got its first live-action TV series, we see fun adventures in space. How ships get from here to there is inconsequential in the overall story. Do you want to see Han Solo and Chewie sit for weeks in the Millenium Falcon on their way to Bespin, talking about how to fix the hyperdrive motivator, or do you want to see them hit the thing to get it working in order to get to their destination in the blink of an eye in order to advance the plot? Where Star Wars fails on the technological dynamics of the world, Star Trek excels.

The second major sticking point before getting into the nitty-gritty legal conundrums is that Star Wars has a deep history in terms of lore, but ever since the House of Mouse turned Star Wars to the Dark Side, the official canon of the universe has been splintered. Disney chucked away decades of storylines from books, cartoons, video games and comics, only keeping select content as canonical. The rest were regarded as ‘Legends.’ This article, while acknowledging that canon is what matters in the overall story of the saga, it is important to analyse both the Legends and canonical IP laws of Star Wars in order to understand the overall legal frameworks apparent in the universe.

And yes, while Star Trek itself does boast separate timelines - ‘Prime’ and ‘Kelvin’ - it is far easier to manage than the lore of Star Wars.

Never tell me the odds

To answer whether there are IP laws in Star Wars in short, yes. But to answer in a rather grandiose and lawyer-like way, it depends. It depends on what planet you are on. It depends whether you are in the Republic, or in the Outer Rim. And it depends on which faction you belong to and how you are looking to protect, or rather, try and protect your IP.

A galaxy which holds an intricate and highly democratic republic, with its own Senate, which has stood for other a thousand generations, would likely have its own IP laws. Individual worlds which are members of the Republic likely have their own individual laws - Bespin likely protects its techniques and technologies for gas mining for example, and Kamino likely guards its cloning technologies with the utmost jurisprudence - just like each jurisdiction on our planet.

“While we have The Hague and Madrid treaties, the Galactic Republic likely has Theed and Aldera.” The Republic likely has similar agreements and treaties to that of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). While we have The Hague and Madrid treaties, the Galactic Republic likely has Theed and Aldera. And ecumenpoleis (planet-wide cities) like Coruscant likely have some individual IP-rules, similar to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Although, the Galactic Empire, given the ruling totalitarian regime, probably doesn’t feature such similar treaties and the state, or Empire in this case, likely demands ownership of the technology developed within its borders.

A whole war even began over a patent in Star Wars - the Nozho–Weogar War was a bitter civil war fought between the city-states of Nozho and Weogar on the planet Bith (where the aliens from the ‘Cantina Band’ came from). The two cities fought over patent rights to a new hyperdrive that would be sold to other planets.

Under the planet’s law, both parties submitted a patent claim to a neutral arbitrator. When the agent representing the city of Nozho found some unfavourable information on the arbitrator, they blackmailed him to choose Nozho as the preference in the decision.

The mayor of Weogar then received word of this deal and refused to accept the arbitrator's decision and immediately began production on the hyperdrive unit. As a result, Nozho began production on their product as well. The rivalry turned to a war of cutting prices and then chemical weapons attacks, with 90% of the Weogar losing their lives.

Thankfully, this is one way in which the Star Wars IP laws differ from our own.

An elegant weapon for a more civilized age

If there are businesses and ideas, there is IP protection and Star Wars is no different. Whether you loved it or hated it, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi depicted people who sold weapons to both the Resistance and the First Order, each with unique ship designs - they most definitely protected their ideas and designs. And while the First Order’s version of the AT-ST looks different to the Empires in terms of aesthetics, the manufacturer likely owns patents and designs for a two-legged ‘All Terrain Scout Transport.’ Now, the manufacturer may have stolen or acquired those designs from the creators of the Clone Army’s similar AT-RT, but the concept of ship and weapon designs appearing similar in Star Wars shows that there are some design and patent ownership in their universe.

It is important to note that like in our world, technology is easy to circumvent - especially when it comes to droids. As Rose reminds in Episode VIII , selling weapons makes a person rich in the Star Wars universe. And after the occupation of Naboo, the Jedi-Sith War during the Old Republic years, and of course the Clone Wars, technologies related to weapons were likely among the most protected - and highly sought after - IPs in Star Wars.

I find your lack of faith disturbing

Did you ever hear the tragedy of the Star Wars Legends universe? The likes of Mara Jade Skywalker, Durge, and Darth Talon are all non-existent as far as the official timeline is concerned. But while these characters live on there, they can be thankful that they have IP laws to protect their ideas, innovations, and inventions.

These aren’t the droids you’re looking for

The concept of design infringements appears to be present in Star Wars. Take the two most famous droids - C3PO and R2-D2. The former is a protocol droid that was built by Anakin Skywalker. This was the eluded to in Episode I: The Phantom Menace when Anakin says, “He's a protocol droid to help Mom.”

According to the official Star Wars lore, C-3PO was built by Anakin out of parts from scrapped Cybot Galactica droids in one of Watto's junk piles. From the stewardess droid on the Trade Federation’s ship which appears in the same film, to the one which is apparently rude to C-3PO in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back , they’re all but identical in terms of design. Yes, they appear humanoid, but either a company which mass-produces these droids owns a design and C-3PO is a walking, interpreting, infringement which was hand-built by a child, or the concept of a humanoid looking droid designed for etiquette and protocol is one that is standard and not protectable.

While the design may questionable, the technology inside them appears to be protected by some form of IP laws, as Cybot Galactica (CG) one of the two largest droid manufacturing companies in the galaxy, according to the Legends side of the story, installed AA-1 VerboBrains into their protocol droid line. This particular VerboBrain, a sphere-shaped piece of tech found in a droid’s head that functioned as a central processor, was manufactured by SyntheTech Corporation.

Like the force itself - just because you can’t see IP in Star Wars, it doesn’t mean it’s not there C-3PO’s ability to be fluent in over “six million forms of communications” comes from a TranLang III communications module, created by Industrial Automaton and used in their line of humanoid protocol droids - the LOM-series. The use of Industrial Automaton’s comms module in Cybot Galactica’s 3PO line of droids was alleged to have been infringing, with long, on-going legal battles over the use occurring.

The two companies also litigated over the cosmetic similarities between the LOM and the 3PO units, with Cybot Galactica instigating several suits over apparent copying of designs. While these long-running disputes appear in the non-canonical novel Clone Wars novel Medstar II: Jedi Healer , the issue of infringement of technological designs, as well as cosmetic, show that this is apparent in the Star Wars universe.

It is important to note that like in our world, technology is easy to circumvent - especially when it comes to droids. From the Ugnauts after shooting C-3PO in Episode V to Babu Frik’s work as a droidsmith for the Spice Runners on Kijimi in Episode IX , the ability to alter and appropriate technology to a technically minded person’s whim in the Star Wars universe presents a myriad of problems. Take Mister Bones from the canonical Aftermath novels, he was altered from a B1 battle droid seen in the prequels to a sadistic bodyguard - a perfect example as to why technology makers in this universe likely had to constantly update technology and impose strict protections on their IP to attempt to prevent such actions.

Summary - Easy, you call that easy?

The Star Wars universe is rife with IP-related content. From laws to disputes. From patents to protections. While our universe seems to focus on the disputes surrounding the franchise itself, you can now safely turn around and say, ‘I know’ when it comes to whether there is IP in Star Wars.

Like the force itself - just because you can’t see IP in Star Wars, it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Author

Ben Wodecki is a reporter for Intellectual Property Magazine

Photo by Agnieszka Kowalczyk on Unsplash

Ben Wodecki

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Capacity Media - a techoraco brand

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