DC and Marvel lose 'Superhero' trademark 0

[Bosco685]

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Article Summary

• US Court cancels Marvel and DC's joint "Super Hero" trademark after legal challenge.
• This opens the term "Super Hero" for public use, benefiting small creators like Superbabies Ltd.
• The case argued that "Super Hero" is a generic term, not deserving of trademark protection.
• History of Marvel and DC's previous successes defending the "Super Hero" trademark outlines their tight control.

 

[Ken Aldred]

As long as they don’t start fighting each other over ‘metahuman’ now, instead.

[s-man]

How is it that both companies held the same trademark?

[Bosco685]

On 9/30/2024 at 6:51 AM, s-man said:

How is it that both companies held the same trademark?

Great question. I was wondering that myself. It was later in the Bleeding Cool article we get answers.

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n 1977, DC Comics and Marvel Comics' legal departments co-operated over the registration of the trademark "superhero" which they decided to share. It was granted by US authorities in 1979/1980. And it is a trademark that they have successfully defended with their legal departments ever since, disputing numerous challenges in many countries, until today

 

[DougC]

To add some additional context: DC was the only company still trying to sue (really just sending cease & desist letters) creators for using variations of "super hero", Marvel had all but abandoned it when the compounded generic form "superhero" became the standard.

Take this next statement with a gigantic grain of salt as it is all just hearsay and guess work: Marvel & DC lost the trademark due to not replying to the USPTO after the initial case deadline on July 24th. They did this purposefully and I believe once DC lawyers understood Marvel was not going to help them they didn't have much choice but to let it go due to the joint nature of the the holding. I have seen other reports stating that "super heroes" was lost as well but that is not true; Both companies also dual own "Super-Villain" but again DC has been the only company to threaten action against creators for usage. I would take a guess and say both of these if challenged outright would not hold up, despite the "super heroes" mark being granted only back in 2018.

As a side note this is the first time Marvel & DC have had to potentially validate their trademark claim. The usual MO is to challenge someone else using it and pay them to change the name, when that fails they completely drop the claim prior to USPTO scrutiny (this included people who have used "superhero" in the compounded form). Whats more "super hero" was being used more for product (toys/games/apparel) and not for comic books.

IIRC there was a super deep dive by a reporter going over comic book company trademarks I read during covid times, but I do not remember the author.

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And it is a trademark that they have successfully defended with their legal departments ever since, disputing numerous challenges in many countries, until today.

This quote from bleeding cool is slightly misleading. The USPTO has no previous record of someone directly challenging the trade mark and the current dispute has been the only one to reach the validation stage (and it didn't really get that far). I do not know about other countries and both Marvel & DC could be more aggressive, but they have never "successfully defended" this mark in the US.

Edited September 30 by DougC

[Bosco685]

On 9/30/2024 at 2:20 PM, DougC said:

To add some additional context: DC was the only company still trying to sue (really just sending cease & desist letters) creators for using variations of "super hero", Marvel had all but abandoned it when the compounded generic form "superhero" became the standard.

Spoiler

Take this next statement with a gigantic grain of salt as it is all just hearsay and guess work: Marvel & DC lost the trademark due to not replying to the USPTO after the initial case deadline on July 24th. They did this purposefully and I believe once DC lawyers understood Marvel was not going to help them they didn't have much choice but to let it go due to the joint nature of the the holding. I have seen other reports stating that "super heroes" was lost as well but that is not true; Both companies also dual own "Super-Villain" but again DC has been the only company to threaten action against creators for usage. I would take a guess and say both of these if challenged outright would not hold up, despite the "super heroes" mark being granted only back in 2018.

As a side note this is the first time Marvel & DC have had to potentially validate their trademark claim. The usual MO is to challenge someone else using it and pay them to change the name, when that fails they completely drop the claim prior to USPTO scrutiny (this included people who have used "superhero" in the compounded form). Whats more "super hero" was being used more for product (toys/games/apparel) and not for comic books.

IIRC there was a super deep dive by a reporter going over comic book company trademarks I read during covid times, but I do not remember the author.

This quote from bleeding cool is slightly misleading. The USPTO has no previous record of someone directly challenging the trade mark and the current dispute has been the only one to reach the validation stage (and it didn't really get that far). I do not know about other countries and both Marvel & DC could be more aggressive, but they have never "successfully defended" this mark in the US.

 

I get your points. But with Marvel, it had enough publicity and legal action impacts taking place concerning its lack of creator fair payment and VFX contributor labor relations. Going after the use of 'superhero' would have only added to this brand threat.

 

[The humble Watcher lurking]

Very interesting. I hope Archie now can make a comeback with their superheroes. 

 

Edited October 1 by The humble Watcher lurking
Classic better image.

[thehumantorch]

On 9/30/2024 at 12:20 PM, DougC said:

To add some additional context: DC was the only company still trying to sue (really just sending cease & desist letters) creators for using variations of "super hero", Marvel had all but abandoned it when the compounded generic form "superhero" became the standard.

Take this next statement with a gigantic grain of salt as it is all just hearsay and guess work: Marvel & DC lost the trademark due to not replying to the USPTO after the initial case deadline on July 24th. They did this purposefully and I believe once DC lawyers understood Marvel was not going to help them they didn't have much choice but to let it go due to the joint nature of the the holding. I have seen other reports stating that "super heroes" was lost as well but that is not true; Both companies also dual own "Super-Villain" but again DC has been the only company to threaten action against creators for usage. I would take a guess and say both of these if challenged outright would not hold up, despite the "super heroes" mark being granted only back in 2018.

As a side note this is the first time Marvel & DC have had to potentially validate their trademark claim. The usual MO is to challenge someone else using it and pay them to change the name, when that fails they completely drop the claim prior to USPTO scrutiny (this included people who have used "superhero" in the compounded form). Whats more "super hero" was being used more for product (toys/games/apparel) and not for comic books.

IIRC there was a super deep dive by a reporter going over comic book company trademarks I read during covid times, but I do not remember the author.

This quote from bleeding cool is slightly misleading. The USPTO has no previous record of someone directly challenging the trade mark and the current dispute has been the only one to reach the validation stage (and it didn't really get that far). I do not know about other countries and both Marvel & DC could be more aggressive, but they have never "successfully defended" this mark in the US.

Very interesting thanks.