We’ve heard about this one before, but now it looks like the judge has spoken- read on below for the full scoop:
“A judge has ruled that a lawsuit over the design for the “Iron Man” armor — which prosecutors Ben Lai and Ray Lai say is based on designs from their independent comic, “Radix” — has no place in the Massachusetts courts.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney and Marvel are protected from the lawsuit because state-level judge Denise Casper has decided the matter doesn’t belong in the Massachusetts courts. Casper said, “…the claims lack relatedness to his state with no specific allegations tying transactions, creations or marketing to Massachusetts.”
The Lai brothers issued the lawsuit in 2015 under their company, Horizon Comics Productions. They claimed the armor designs from the “Iron Man” movies were based off similar, “highly detailed, mechanized suits of body armor” from their 2001 comic, “Radix.” The Lais say Marvel changed the Iron Man design after they showed their work on “Radix” to the publisher.
Prior to the 2015 lawsuit, the Lais issued Disney and Marvel a cease-and-desist letter, just ahead of the premiere of “Iron Man 3.” Backing up their claims, the brothers pointed to similarities between the “Iron Man 3″ poster and one of their “Radix” designs (shown above).
Horizon is likely to continue to pursue legal action against Disney and Marvel — they’ll just have to do it outside of Massachusetts.”
Source: ComicBookResources
