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OMEN
08-18-2006, 12:03 AM
WWE is presently opposing two notable trademarks, reports PWInsider.

The company has been opposing rapper The Game's trademark since May, although the story has largely gone unreported.

It is also opposing Christian Cage's trademark for "Captain Charisma." WWE argues that Christian's contract deemed any ring name or nickname he first used while under WWE contract was to be viewed as the intellectual property of WWE.

W-Edge

Will
08-18-2006, 04:51 PM
I dont understand why the WWE wouldnt seek the trademark first. HHH has been using it for years and no one tried to trademark it until the rapper did in May.............Christians whole gimmick seems like copyright infringement to me. No other wrestler has ever changed feds and added one word to their ring name and kept other nicknames entirely as they were.On the bright side though, this will be free publicity for TNA.

scorpionf
08-19-2006, 11:31 AM
For HHH, I thought it would have been commonsense on the part of WWE to trademark any personas or nicknames as soon as they started using them, and hence avoiding these situations... Yes, it may be costly, but it would be cheaper in the long run cause there would be no need for these kinds of legal cases.

As for Christian... "Viewed as the Intellectual Property of WWE" and "Patented as the Intellectual Property of WWE" are 2 different things... If they did not want Christian to use the name, they should have again, trademarked it at the beginning.

Cage
08-19-2006, 12:48 PM
I believe that the WWE is just nitpicking here. Firstly, the Rapper The Game, is a rapper, no affiliation to Sports Entertainment, so neither is it a conflict of business nor a possible "threat" to the WWE. It's silly and just an attempt by the WWE to garner some publicity, although, this is the first I heard of it, so good work, no? :P

As for Captain Charisma, I'm on the fence because Christians WWE Contract DID state that any character ideas and names created by any wrestler will therefore become WWE Property. That is why the WWE didn't need to trademark it, although, I agree they should have covered their bases. The reasons for this lawsuit given by the WWE were:

"Christian's attempts to trademark it will cause "confusion in the marketplace" and that WWE will suffer damages if he is allowed to keep the trademark."

That is pure bull. Confusion in the marketplace? What have they got in their locker-room that would be confused with Christian "Captain Charisma" Cage. Yeah, they'll suffer damages because they won't be able to release the Destruction of Christian DVD or something.

Seriously, though, I think the WWE has more of a case with Captain Charisma since contractually they own the name. As we known Contracts can and will be deemed inadmissable in court, so that will be interesting.

As for The Game, well, I don't know. It seems silly to me since WWE and Hip Hop, John Cena aside, have no real affiliation and it's not going to be "confusing in the marketplace"

Basically, it's their own fault for not trademarking both sooner. Although, now, I don't think they have a solid case for both.

Will
08-19-2006, 06:16 PM
I believe that the WWE is just nitpicking here. Firstly, the Rapper The Game, is a rapper, no affiliation to Sports Entertainment, so neither is it a conflict of business nor a possible "threat" to the WWE. It's silly and just an attempt by the WWE to garner some publicity, although, this is the first I heard of it, so good work, no? :P


As for The Game, well, I don't know. It seems silly to me since WWE and Hip Hop, John Cena aside, have no real affiliation and it's not going to be "confusing in the marketplace"


The situation with the rapper could be very important to the WWE. If the rapper gets the trademark then he can tell WWE that they can never use it again and if they do then he can sue them for copyright fees everytime it is used. It would be like the deal with Marvel comics and the "Hulk" trademark. They have had to pay trademark fees for 20 years.Im not sure that the rapper cares about WWE using the name, but if he does, it can end up costing the WWE millions of dollars or the use of one of their most popular nicknames.

LJ Viner
08-19-2006, 08:58 PM
When you you talk about 'the game' to me i would think you were talking about the rapper not trip and 9/10 people would agree so the WWE are fighting a pointless battle there and as for cage the WWE will get there own way as such for two reasons, one being the fact it was used first in the WWE and two because TNA seem to do what WWE say when it comes to copyright or trademark Infringements even if they are with in there rights. So for looks like vince will get his way again.

Cage
08-20-2006, 08:15 PM
I know, I never stated facts in my opinion. I stated the facts. Then opinion. If you read the first bit, I said in full:


I'm on the fence because Christians WWE Contract DID state that any character ideas and names created by any wrestler will therefore become WWE Property. That is why the WWE didn't need to trademark it, although, I agree they should have covered their bases. The reasons for this lawsuit given by the WWE were:

"Christian's attempts to trademark it will cause "confusion in the marketplace" and that WWE will suffer damages if he is allowed to keep the trademark."

That is pure bull. Confusion in the marketplace? What have they got in their locker-room that would be confused with Christian "Captain Charisma" Cage. Yeah, they'll suffer damages because they won't be able to release the Destruction of Christian DVD or something.

Seriously, though, I think the WWE has more of a case with Captain Charisma since contractually they own the name. As we known Contracts can and will be deemed inadmissable in court, so that will be interesting.


Im on the fence, I gave the facts, then my opinion of the reasonings WWE gave, which is still bull. But, TNA will give in and Christian will lose but it doesn't change my opinion.

Will
08-20-2006, 08:48 PM
^ I guess thats a reply to me. I cut out the christian parts because I dont care, or have anything to say, about that part.Thats a trivial matter. The Game trademark was the important part, and thats the part of your post that I focused on.