There will be no more "Lightsaber Battles" in San Francisco or anywhere else for that matter, and no, not because the last time the unpermitted event came to San Fransisco in December it did thousands of dollars in damage to Sue Bierman Park. Indeed, the Canadian nonprofit behind the playful gatherings of Star Wars fans has found an enemy much more powerful than the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department: Lucasfilm. The Disney-owned company, apparently, had enough of someone else using its expensively purchased intellectual property, and in January of this year told the group to stop using the term "lightsaber" — or else.
"In December 2015, we promoted four events as 'lightsaber battles,' something we have done for eight years without incident," reads a blog post on the organizing group's renamed website. "In January 2016, we received a cease-and-desist letter from Lucasfilm’s attorneys, and we immediately stopped using the words 'lightsaber,' 'Jedi,' 'Sith,' and 'The Force.' However, in March we received further communication stating 'The Light Battle Tour' and 'light sword' were still too close to their trademarks, and we moved to settle the dispute to avoid legal action."
However, like a young moisture farmer who used to bullseye womp rats in his T-16 back home, organizers of the battles have struck back — renaming the events The Cats in Space Tour Space Battle. So, while you won't be able to go to a lightsaber battle anytime in the near future, you will continue to be able to bang glowing plastic sticks against other plastic sticks in the future — just keep an eye out for Darth Meow.
Previously: Lightsaber Battle Causes Thousands Of Dollars In Damages, Brings Out Organizers' Dark Side