DC Comics is reportedly involved in another legal battle over a trademark. This time, it’s not a Spanish soccer team coming under fire for using a thousand year old crest featuring a bat logo. Instead, it’s pop singer Rihanna, who is trying to register a trademark for her real first name, Robyn, for use as part of a wider plan to sell goods under various brands related to her name, with the main thrust being some kind of fashion or clothing line.
According to law blog “Pirated Thoughts,” which appears to have an EXXXCLUSIVE on this story, DC believes “Rihanna has had full knowledge of DC Comic’s trademark and is trying to use a mark that is in sight, sound and commercial impression virtually identical to DC Comic’s trademark. DC Comics argues that because of the similarity between the marks, consumers are likely to associate the goods and services provided by Rihanna under the ROBYN trademark with DC Comics’ ROBIN, when there is no association between the two.” Go and read the full story over there.
Seeking to verify this story, The Outhouse has been trying to obtain some kind of evidence of the legal challenge. We’ve been able to locate the trademark history for “Robyn” from legal resource site Justia.com. Robyn was registered as a trademark in 2014 by Roraj Trade LLC, one of a number of trademarks filed as part of Rihanna’s plans to create a retail empire, as reported here in The Independent. The full listing of marks applied for at that time are: Fenty Apparel, Fenty Beauty, Fenty Clothing, Fenty Cosmetics, Fenty Face, Fenty Intimates, Fenty Lingerie, Fenty Makeup, Fenty Nails, Fenty Swim, Fenty Swimwear, Boomflick, Fenty Corp, Robyn, Fenty88 and Rhi Rhi. The Robyn trademark in particular looks to be geared toward some kind of sports or fitness products, being registered under the code “Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities.” More specifically, the US Trademark Office lists its purpose as “IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Providing on-line non-downloadable general feature magazines.” An opposition to the trademark was indeed filed on Monday, May 11th, and the trademark’s status is currently listed as “774 – Opposition Pending.” It looks like an extension of time to oppose was filed back in November, presumably by DC, deciding whether or not to challenge. We’re comfortable in calling this story “confirmed.”
This is the biggest legal battle between the music and geek worlds since pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page successfully sued Jay Z for infringing on his “Diamond Cutter” hand gesture. Yeah, that’s a thing that really happened. And so is this. So who do you want to see emerge victorious? [The Outhousers]
