Wicked Lasers Given Reprieve by LucasFilm on Lightsaber Clone

Lucasfilm has backed off the cease-and-desist demand it had made to Wicked Lasers, creator the of Spyder III Pro Arctic. Admittedly, the device sure reminds us of a lightsaber, but according to the letter that was sent to the Wicked Lasers' CEO, as long as the company puts a disclaimer on any pages that are graced by the Pro Arctic, they will drop the demand.

The letter, from David J. Anderman, General Counsel for LucasFilm, stated that based on the publicity and statements that Wicked Lasers had made, it was clear that "The media and public has come to realize that Lucasfilm would never endorse or license a highly dangerous product such as your Arctic Pro Laser."

In addition to the statements the company made, Wicked Lasers added safety features to the product (pictured above). There is a safety lock, its default setting now sets the power level at 20 percent of maximum, and all lasers are shipped with safety goggles.

Wicked Lasers CEO Steve Liu said, however, that all the publicity proved to a positive, and sales in fact tripled. "This has been strange. We felt that it would have been a very bad thing in the beginning, but it ended up helping the business in a very big way."

You can read the letter from LucasFilm to Wicked Lasers (.PDF) here.