Creator of the 'Super Soaker' awarded $72.9M from Hasbro toys

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During the 1990s, before kids were playing Call Of Duty on their Playstations, we had the Super Soaker water gun.

It was an epic invention for children everywhere that made traditional pistol water guns obsolete.

Its creator, Lonnie Johnson, invented the trademark pressure pump that allowed Super Soakers to shoot water at long distances.

Legal disputes through 2007-2012 between Hasbro and Johnson’s company kept him from being properly compensated for his invention. It appears they have been resolved and Mr. Johnson will receive $72.9 million dollars.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The arbitration agreement resolves a 2001 inventors dispute in which Hasbro agreed to pay Johnson royalties for products covered by his Nerf line of toys, specifically the N-Strike and Dart Tag brands, King & Spalding attorney Ben Easterlin said. In a separate breach of contract suit filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta in February, Johnson accuses Hasbro of violating a 1996 agreement to pay him Super Soaker royalties of 2 percent for “three-dimensional products” based on the appearance of the toy and 1 percent for “two-dimensional visual representations.” The suit says Hasbro sold water guns that were “visually similar and based upon the appearance of Super Soaker water guns that incorporate Johnson’s technology.” Johnson also wanted the court to force Hasbro to open its books to determine sales of Super Soaker products from 2006 to 2012.

Congratulations, Mr. Johnson. Were you a fan of the Super Soaker?

Let us know in the comments below.

You can check out Kyle’s musical coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at @HarveyWins.