Courts have applied the various facets of unfair competition law to protect fictional characters and, similar to trademark law, prevent the wrongful use of fictional characters in connection with goods and services of third parties.

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The general atmosphere of both stories and even some of the characters are very similar: both are set in Woodyland, that familiar elegant fantasy version of Manhattan, impeccably furnished, with no brightness, no neon, no pop culture anywhere, and the characters are largely a nattering, trivial, shallowly self-serving bunch.

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Asked whether Toys R Us would be supporting Disney Infinity in a similar way to Skylanders, with limited edition and exclusive characters, Storch was again very positive.

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This is, of course, similar to the Marvel Comics creation of a film universe in which many of their characters interact and team up (as in The Avengers film this past summer).

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