NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – As “Back To The Future” celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, there’s a legal tussle over the futuristic car that provided the guts for the flying time machine used by Michael J. Fox in the classic 1985 film.
Maverick automaker John DeLorean’s eponymous creation co-starred in the 1985 movie as it transported Marty McFly back to the 1950s to engineer his parents’ meeting – and, in a 1989 sequel, to a 2015 world that featured flying skateboards, automated dog-walkers and self-drying jackets.
Now, DeLorean’s widow, Sally, claims in a federal lawsuit that Texas-based DeLorean Motor Company has been illegally using the DeLorean name to sell hats, pens, notebooks, key chains and other items, and has illegally licensed the name and images to other companies including Nike, Mattel, Urban Outfitters and Apple. The company has never been formally affiliated with the one DeLorean started.
The Texas company “has improperly and illegally appropriated for its own use Mr. DeLorean’s legacy, including the DeLorean Identity, together with intellectual property,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit claims the company has plans to manufacture an electric version of the car, which it says would be illegal because the car’s design belongs to John DeLorean’s estate.