Monday, February 02, 2004
Super-Hero Trademark...
Lots of activity lately relating to Super Hero Happy Hour changing its name to Hero Happy Hour due to the fact that Marvel/DC have a join trademark on the phrase "super-heroes" (and variations I think).
So, lots of talk about have they really been doing enough to protect the trademark in the past for it to stand up, if they were actually taken to court over it? Seems there has been a couple of comics with the term in the name, as well as publications like Webster not mentioning Marvel/DC in their dictionary entry.
In the end, it has probably done well to generate buzz around Hero Happy Hour (someone even suggested it might have been a ploy on their end, but I seriously doubt that), so it has probably done more harm that good. Still, almost everyone seems to agree that trying to enforce over a widely used genre term is silly and doesn't do well to generate good will toward Marvel/DC. There's also the fact that it was never brought up until recently as it started to get more popular and possibly optioned for a movie.
So, lots of talk about have they really been doing enough to protect the trademark in the past for it to stand up, if they were actually taken to court over it? Seems there has been a couple of comics with the term in the name, as well as publications like Webster not mentioning Marvel/DC in their dictionary entry.
In the end, it has probably done well to generate buzz around Hero Happy Hour (someone even suggested it might have been a ploy on their end, but I seriously doubt that), so it has probably done more harm that good. Still, almost everyone seems to agree that trying to enforce over a widely used genre term is silly and doesn't do well to generate good will toward Marvel/DC. There's also the fact that it was never brought up until recently as it started to get more popular and possibly optioned for a movie.
