Marvel and DC Comics have just lost a symbolic bastion of their (pop) cultural supremacy. On September 27, an American court ruled in favor of diversity and free competition. After 45 years of reigning supreme over masked vigilantes, the two giants have officially no longer the rights to the term “superhero”. But what does that really change?
Superhero is no longer a brand
Half a century earlier, Marvel and DC smelled the right thing, by legally rushing into the superhero breach. While the two companies are already in the heyday of pop culture, they decide to make the term their own. Since 1996, reports the American media Bleeding Cool, the two American giants would have thus opposed to dozens of trademark applicationsand each time they would have won their case in court. Non-exhaustive anthology of past and current cases:
- In 2005, the Australian supermarket chain Metcash Trading Limited was forced to cancel its trademark registration.Superhero Specials” after a complaint from DC and Marvel
- In 2006, the American brand The Lucky Drink Company saw its trademark registration “Superhero beer” et “Superhero cola” refused after legal action from Marvel and DC
- Also in 2006, the American publisher had to rename its comic strip “Superhero happy hour” in “Hero happy hour” after action from Marvel and DC
- In 2007, a charity fundraiser called “Superhero Sam” is disputed by DC Comics. It was transferred two years later to DC and Marvel, who then became its legal owners.
- In 2010, the self-published novel called “A World Without Superheroes” is attacked by DC and Marvel after an attempted trademark registration. The author is forced to withdraw his request
- In 2015, the American brand Tech Girls Movement filed a registration application for the campaign “Tech Girls Are Superheroes“. DC and Marvel oppose this filing (the case is still ongoing)
- In 2016, Marvel and DC sent a formal notice to author Graham Jules, after the publication of a book “Business Zero to Superhero“. Jules then filed an application for invalidation of the “Superhero” trademark with the British Trademark Registry, but was unsuccessful.
The judge has now ruled: the expression “superhero” is a generic term, which cannot therefore be registered with an intellectual property organization. Thanks to the legal action launched by the law firm Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg (RJLF), it is a historic victory for the authors and independent publishers. Concretely, the American Patent and Trademark Office validated the cancellation of the common trademark “Superhero”, previously owned by DC and Marvel.
What does that change?
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— THE BOYS (@TheBoysTV) September 30, 2024
Basically, not much. Competitors from Marvel and DC have never really deprived themselves of bend the rulesby slightly changing the writing of the word (for example, from Superhero to Super hero), or, in the manner of The Boyswho took great pleasure in using a diminutive (“supe”). The writers of the successful Prime Video series did not fail to react to this good news on X/Twitter.
However, the legal opening of the term promises to benefit independent authors, who will now be able to use the word without fear of legal reprisals from Marvel and DC.
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