Expecto Trademark problems! In a true battle of all geekiness, Wizard World, who runs comic book conventions and other similar cons across the country, has opposed Warner Bros. attempt to register the WIZARDING WORLD trademark claiming that the marks are too similar.
Since 1997, Wizard World, Inc. has run pop culture conventions concerning all things geeky such as comic books, video games, and toys. No doubt you have heard of their cons before with some big ones in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. In association with the cons, Wizard Worlds, Inc. has used the WIZARD WORLD trademark and has a registration for the same.
Warner Bros. has the “Wizard World of Harry Potter” theme park attractions at Universal Los Angeles and Orlando and the name “Wizarding World” has been used to refer to the series of Harry Potter movies including the two prequels, that aren’t as good, let’s be honest. In February and March 2018, Warner Bros. filed a bunch of trademark applications for WIZARDING WORLD and the logo that can be seen to the right in such areas as video games, books, and the ever popular bath linens to name a few.
Last week, Wizard World, Inc. filed its opposition to the WIZARDING WORLD trademarks. In a very short, four paragraph opposition, Wizard World, Inc. broadly claims that the marks are highly similar in sound, appearance, and impression that people are bound to confuse the two marks. A few days later, Warner Bros. made a motion to suspend the trademark proceedings for 90 days. One can only assume that the parties are working on a settlement. If a settlement isn’t reached, the opposition proceedings will resume in March 2019.
