US trademark office vacates "Super Hero" for Marvel & DC!

[Hyperstrike]

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-trademark-office-cancels-marvel-dcs-super-hero-marks-2024-09-26/

[Greycat]

That... seems like an odd thing to have had trademarked in the first place.

 

I could somewhat see "Superhero," the compound word, maybe being trademarkable (though, again, the point about "two competitors owning a trademark,") but "Super Hero" and "Super Heroes" just seems like an odd thing to have ever been OK'd. They're such generic, easy-to-come-to terms.

 

So, good that that was invalidated.

[Without_Pause]

7 hours ago, Greycat said:

They're such generic, easy-to-come-to terms.

(Ohio State University has entered the chat)

 

For those unaware, they trademarked THE.

[tidge]

No real surprise here, except that neither DC nor Marvel filed a response, and that there was a default judgement.

[High_Beam]

A whole lot of Reichman in the lawyers names

 

QUOTE

For Superbabies: Adam Adler of Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg

For Marvel and DC: Jonathan Reichman of Hunton Andrews Kurth

UNQOUOTE

 

Curse you other evil Marcus Cole analog.

[Ceejer]

Finally!

[Ulysses Dare]

Huzzah! I've been waiting years for this. The idea that two competing businesses could jointly own a trademark flies in the face of everything trademarks are supposed to be. I assume it only lasted this long because no one had the money to challenge it.

[Black Zot]

Something that generic shouldn't be trademarkable in the first place.

[High_Beam]

23 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

(Ohio State University has entered the chat)

 

For those unaware, they trademarked THE.

What about THE Lorenz Ansaldo?  Or is that a Copyright in his case.

 

Initial Contact

Hey, I'm Lorenz Ansaldo. That's right THE Lorenz Ansaldo. I'm what you call a troubleshooter for the Family. The Family has a problem that they need solvin', they come to me, and I get what you'd call outside help. That'd be you. Capische?

 

[EmperorSteele]

If you folks think a dual-trademark on a generic word is bad, look into the history of the Comics Cide Authority.

 

Short version: when the US gov't threatened to come down hard on the comics industry for all of the objectionable content (as well as a scathing report from a quack child psychologist), Marvel and DC (and Archie too, I suppose) came up with a set of "rules" as a compromise. If a book didn't follow these rules, it couldn't be sold at newsstands (the only place to get comics back in the day; dedicated Comic Book stores didn't exist yet). Rules like "no sex, drugs, or realistic violence", "good guys must always win", "no gays", "no books with Terror or Horror in the title", etc. All of this was aimed at putting EC comics (publisher of books such as "Tales from the Crypt") out of business. They self-censored themselves just to get rid of a rival company. Getting the government's OK to continue doing business was just the icing on the cake.