Do DC and Marvel Own Exclusive Rights in SUPER HERO?
So how lame is this? Note I DIDN’T WRITE THIS! Martin of The Trademark Blog did, but it certainly is food for thought. I mean, really. Via Nerdlaw, we find a link to this press release from a comic book implying that it received a demand letter from DC and Marvel, alleging that they jointly own the trademark SUPER HERO (and forced the comic book to remove the term from its title). I didn’t see the actual demand letter and maybe the press release misstates some of the facts in the case, so I’ll only ‘hmmm’ silently to myself. But I will add that one element of the definition of a trademark is that it designates a single source of origin. While there is the concept of joint ownership, two unrelated companies holding themselves out as two unrelated companies tend not to meet this definition. Also, DC disclaimed ‘SUPER HEROES’ in Reg. 2730169 for the mark POCKET SUPER HEROES. BE THAT AS IT MAY: Cadence Industries, AKA Marvel and DC Comics obtained a registration for SUPER HEROES for comic
