Brooklyn. 1967. Ben Cooper, Inc. registers SUPER HERO for masquerade costumes.[1]
Meanwhile, in neighboring Manhattan . . .
Mego Corporation tries to register WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES for dolls.
Kablam!!!!!!
Ben Cooper leaps into action to oppose Mego’s application.
Weakened and unable to fend off Ben Cooper, Mego transfers its application to Marvel Comics Group.
Kerpow!!!!!!
Marvel emerges victorious and receives a registration.
Chicago. September 1982. Someone laces Tylenol tablets with potassium cyanide. Seven people die. With Halloween approaching, parents across the country fear tampering with treats and keep their kids home. Ben Cooper suffers as sales of costumes plummet. Weakened and close to death, Ben Cooper assigns its SUPER HERO registration to Marvel and DC Comics.
Recognizing that they are stronger sharing their SUPER HERO trademark rights, Marvel and DC transfer registrations they each own for SUPER HERO to joint ownership.[2]
Today, they continue to jointly own six live registrations for SUPERHERO for T-shirts, comic books, production services, and toy figures.[3]
The Trademark Office is strewn with the corpses of 200+ SUPER HERO applications and registrations for everything from slot machines and legal services to explosives and insecticides.
It seems nothing can stop the combined might of Marvel and DC.
But wait . . .
More recently, applications have been slipping through without even an opposition from Marvel and DC. There are now registrations for marks containing SUPER HERO for chiropractic services, fortunetelling, and even one for capes and T-shirts.
Have Marvel and DC lost their will to fight? Will Marvel and DC ever again rule the SUPERHERO trademark world? Tune in next time . . .
Big shout out to Bill B., for suggesting this topic! What do you want to know about?
[1] Even if you’ve never heard of Ben Cooper, Inc. you’ve probably worn one of its costumes. In its heyday, Ben Cooper, Inc. produced kids’ Halloween costumes under licenses from companies like DC Comics, Mattel, The Children’s Television Workshop, and Disney.
[2] How can competitors co-own a registration? How does that work? Stand by for a post on that crazy issue coming soon to a blog near you.
Here are the SUPER HERO trademarks that DC and Marvel transferred to each other at the end of 1986:
Mark | App Date | Goods & Services | Original Owner | Status |
SUPER HEROES | 1982 | Entertainment services | DC | Dead |
SUPER HEROES | 1982 | Cookies | Marvel | Dead |
SUPER HEROES | 1981 | Soap | DC | Dead |
SUPER HERO | 1980 | Cake pans | Marvel | Dead |
SUPER HEROES | 1980 | Games | Marvel | Dead |
SUPER HEROES | 1980 | Linens | DC | Dead |
SUPER HEROES | 1980 | Tote bags | DC | Dead |
SUPER HEROES | 1979 | Comic books | Marvel | Live |
SUPER HEROES | 1976 | Belts | DC | Dead |
SUPER HEROES | 1974 | Toys | Marvel | Live |
WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES | 1972 | Dolls | Marvel | Live |
[3] Marvel and DC also co-own an application for SUPERHERO for entertainment services, but that application has been suspended since 2010 pending the disposition of an application for SUPERHEROE for entertainment services owned by Raynaldo Garza, which itself is subject to several office actions that refuse to register, in part because of registrations owned by Marvel and DC.
Each also individually owns registrations that include SUPERHERO. For example, Marvel owns MARVEL SUPER-HEROES.
Over the years, they have also jointly taken ownership of these applications and registrations following disputes:
COMPUTER SUPER HEROES | Computer services | Onetech Computer Consulting, Inc. | Live |
SUPERHEROES OF SERVICE | Telecom services | Glenwood Telecom | Live |
SUPERHERO | Ice cream | Driggs Farms | Dead |
SUPERHERO SCHOOL | Educational services | Philip and Noah Margo | Dead |