In a new, even more super-secret hidden Bandersnatch ending, Netflix is now being sued by Chooseco, publisher of the interactive Choose Your Own Adventure books, over Black Mirror’s, well, choose-your-own-adventure film. In the suit, filed Friday, the company accuses Netflix of trademark infringement, unfair competition, false designation of origin, and trademark dilution.
According to Chooseco, which has trademarked the phrase “choose your own adventure,†Netflix used the phrase and concept “willfully and intentionally to capitalize on viewers’ nostalgia for the original book series from the 1980s and 1990s.†They continue, “The film’s dark and, at times, disturbing content dilutes the goodwill for and positive associations with Chooseco’s mark and tarnishes its products.â€
Netflix, the filing claims, allegedly pursued a license to use the term beginning in 2016, but never actually received one. The streaming platform also allegedly received a cease-and-desist from Chooseco before Bandersnatch’s release. “It is causing confusion, tarnishing, denigrating and diluting the district quality of the Choose Your Own Adventure mark,†asserts the suit. Boy, if only there was some way Netflix could go back in time and avoid this whole situation entirely. …