Albert Einstein long-supported the establishment of a Jewish university in Israel and, in his will, he left to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (of which he was a founder), and to Princeton University, his personal papers and all intellectual property rights to his writings, and all property and publicity rights in his name and image and other aspects of his persona.
These rights (which earn around $18 million a year for HUJ) are protected vigorously, and the Hebrew University has not exactly been shy about filing lawsuits against infringers of these rights. There is a lot of money at stake.
The list of suits is an extensive one. To name a few, there was a suit over the use of Einstein's image in an "Ideas can be sexy" General Motors ad (one of my favorite ads, by the way
), and over Einstein quotes used on a (young kid's) website (which forced the website's closure), and over the use of his image in a cosmetics ad.
Currently a disguise company in New Jersey is involved in a "preemptive" suit filed against the Hebrew University over the novelty company's Einstein disguise kit, a suit to determine in part how far the trademark rights in the Einstein name and image should extend.
Greenlight is authorized to handle the licensing of rights for the Hebrew University (and to enforce these rights), so this is who to contact for information on your use of the "Einsteinabot" character (and for a license to the use
any aspect of Albert Einstein's persona). You can go directly to
www.greenlightrights.com or you can visit the Albert Einstein site to learn about the rights held by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (
www.albert-einstein.org/.index.html).
The Baby Einstein products that you mentioned acquired licensing rights to the Einstein name for their Baby Einstein, Einstein Pals and Little Einsteins products (see
Baby Einstein - Legal Notices), so it is possible that rights may be granted for your uses (although an additional concern is that your Einsteinabot products may be seen as infringing on the
Baby Einstein licensing rights as well as the Hebrew University rights).
One of the reasons you probably used the "Einstein" name for your product is the very reason why a suit may materialize over your use. You yourself say that people often leave off the "abot" portion of the name and focus on the "Einstein" part. You probably chose "Einstein" instead of, say, "SmartGuyRobot" because of the attention the "Einstein" name attracts. Whatever the case, without having obtained licensing rights in the name (and image, if your puppet resembles Albert Einstein), your use of "Einsteinabot" for your robot/puppet products is liable to attract not only attention you desire but a lawsuit you may not desire - or, at the very least, it is liable to attract a cease and desist letter and a demand for dollars (many, many dollars).
Whether you will receive a C&D or whether you will be sued for infringement, or whether you could win such a suit should one be filed against you, is a definite question mark. The outcome of the "Forum Novelties" New Jersey suit may give you a better idea of where you might stand with your puppet character.
But, whether you were to ultimately win or to lose an infringement suit filed against you (for trademark infringement or publicity rights infringement), I can guarantee that any court fight over your use is bound to be a prolonged and expensive one.
I always believe it is better to take preventive measures to avoid lawsuits. If you are already marketing your DVD and products, however, it is probably a little late for
preventive measures - and, from the sounds of it, you are planning on playing the odds anyway. It even sounds as if you want to be sued, as a way to draw attention to your puppet/robot character.
If that is the case, there is really little you need to do other than what you are doing, although you may perhaps consider starting a "lawsuit fund" with any profits you may realize from the sales of your products. Should you be served with a summons and a complaint, I recommend you hire a very good IP attorney to handle the lawsuit for you.
One final note: If you created an "Elvisbot" or a "Presleybot" to capitalize off Elvis Presley fame, you can be sued. Even an Elvis impersonator has been sued by the Presley estate in the past for violating the publicity rights held by Elvis Presley Enterprises. Some "Elvis suits" have been won, others lost.
