DC Comics Going After A Spanish Soccer Club With A Bat In Its Logo For Some Reason

from the holy-trademark-abuse,-batman! dept

Tue, Nov 25th 2014 9:02pm — Timothy Geigner

When it comes to being IP bullies, DC Comics has built quite the reputation for itself. From its taking on the gravestone of a victim of child abuse in the name of protectionism to taking on BBQ joints because of a logo that includes a bat. That last historical example foreshadows this latest news, in which DC Comics decides to take on a Spanish soccer team for having the audacity to include a bat in its logo.

According to a report from Yahoo Eurosport, DC Comics is suing the Spanish soccer team Liga Giants Valencia over their logo, which apparently resembles Batman's logo in that it also features a bat. Unfortunately, according to European reports, the bat has been a symbol used in Spain for about 800 years. There's even a fucking Wikipedia page about it. And the soccer team's bat logo has been in use since 1919, before Batman was first published.

Here's the logo in dispute.

Do the two logos have similarities? Sure, but that says a great deal more about the general indistinctness of DC Comics' mark than it does about any sort of malicious copying by the Valencia club. Add to that the fact that, even working with such a general shape and color scheme, there are distinct differences between these two marks and the many, many other Batman marks that have been registered in the past, and one wonders what DC Comics was thinking yet again with another silly trademark dispute. After all, were you to review every Batman logo that's been registered as a trademark, a means for customers to identify a particular brand, you have to wonder if there hasn't been a real attempt to simply trademark every possible iteration of a bat as a logo. And that makes me wonder why such a practice doesn't invalidate the trademark altogether.

All this and we haven't even mentioned yet that I'm fairly certain that DC Comics doesn't own a soccer club anywhere, so I'm not even remotely clear on how these two logos are competing in the same marketplace with the potential to confuse the same potential consumers. Add to that the long-established use of a bat as a logo in the Valencia region and this looks like a losing proposition for DC Comics.

Probably, DC thought this dumbassery would fly under the radar because it's happening Spain, which does not have its own official Has DC Done Something Stupid Today counter, but they're wrong, because The Outhouse is going international!

It has been 0 days! Olé!

Olé!

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Filed Under: bat, batman, confusion, football, logos, soccer, spain, trademark
Companies: dc comics, liga giants valencia

23 Comments

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That One Guy (profile), 25 Nov 2014 @ 7:12pm

That didn't take long
The club have revealed they had applied for copyright for a new design of the bat that forms part of their crest, but they have since decided to discard it after DC Comics “presented its opposition to the request”.

Valencia say “there does not exist a lawsuit by DC Comics”, but the club no longer have “plans to use” the new design.

Source:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/25/valenica-logo-batman-dc-comics
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Nov 2014 @ 9:26pm

So does this mean DC Comics will sue Spetsnaz GRU for trademark infringement in its logo? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spetsnaz_GRU
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Shadow Dragon (profile), 25 Nov 2014 @ 9:43pm

hmpf
I always prefer Marvel over DC
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Javarod (profile), 25 Nov 2014 @ 10:29pm

So, how long until DC tries suing Bacardi?

http://www.bacardiusa.com/
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Nov 2014 @ 10:31pm

Re: That didn't take long
I guess DC Comics hates it when copyright law is enforced.
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Bergman (profile), 25 Nov 2014 @ 11:19pm

Re:
If they do, I bet their CEO will become the victim of a mysterious accident involving a shovel...
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Nov 2014 @ 11:44pm

It's clear that Valencia was the true birthplace of Batman! Therefore Valencia is Gotham!

There, problem solved!
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 12:38am

Re:
Was thinking the exact same thing...
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 3:13am

Re: Re:
Ditto
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 4:03am

bat logos
That's not the only Batman logo DC used. This logo looks a lot like the Batman Beyond logo: http://www.jameskurtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/1999-batman-logo-batmanbeyond.jpg
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Docrailgun, 26 Nov 2014 @ 4:09am

Bat... rum
Are they going after Bacardi next?
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Capt ICE Enforcer, 26 Nov 2014 @ 5:43am

DC Comics
Wouldn't it be amazing if DC had to ditch the Batman Logo for copyright infringement and Trademark violations. After all, if DC expensive lawyers felt there was a large enough issue to contact them, it is obvious that it needs to be fixed. Figure 60% of all money made by the Batman product, movies, toys, and cartoons. Plus hit them with the Statutory Charges. Should equate to 19 trillion dollars if they used Hollywood accountants.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 6:16am

Re: Re: That didn't take long
Up until 1964, Batman's symbol/insignia was just a black bat.
When they tried to trademark it as the tv show began preproduction, it was rejected as being to generic, so they introduced the yellow oval around it.
The bat-in-oval logo was accepeted and trademarked.
Look at the test footage for Adam West & Burt Ward and Lyle Waggoner & Peter Dyall...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-BHYo4U0M4
...wearing non-yellow oval costumes.
Yet, when the pilot was filmed, Adam was in the costume with the bat-in-yellow-oval.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 6:54am

Re: Re:
Don't mess with the Spetsnaz.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 6:55am

Ha HAH! This is exactly what Liga Giants Valencia was expecting DC Comics to do!

So, who's going to add this to Real World Examples over at tvtropes: BG?
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Josh (profile), 26 Nov 2014 @ 7:48am

what they should have done
They should have joined the football(soccer) team, given them a few thousand dollars and new jerseys. I would guess that would have cost the same as them filing the lawsuit and they would have gotten some great publicity out of it.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 8:14am

That club logo...
...sure looks like Count Dracula would have a better claim than Batman!
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 8:31am

Wait, I'm confused. Does Batman have a soccer team now?
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Nov 2014 @ 9:16am

Re: bat logos
I was going to say the same thing. I get that it is hard to confuse a 75 yr old comic book figure and a EU soccer club, but they do look very similar.
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Richard (profile), 26 Nov 2014 @ 11:00am

Re:
It's clear that Valencia was the true birthplace of Batman! Therefore Valencia is Gotham!
Nah Gotham is Gotham
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Comic Book Artist, 26 Nov 2014 @ 11:48am

As a comic book artst...
As someone in the industry, the heavy corporate usurpation of comic book companies has left me a brokenhearted fan. With ten long boxes filled with DC and Marvel, I look back to time when I had affinity with the artist and writers. Before they were TV producers or movie consultants, when they were like me. Nothing stays the same but the phrase 'Make Mine Marvel' has become 'Make the World Marvel' with Mickey Mouse holding the whip, driving the entertainments golden chariot.
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Chris Brand, 26 Nov 2014 @ 11:59am

likelihood of confusion
The real question is how many morons in a hurry will buy soccer tickets thinking they're going to see the latest Batman movie.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2014 @ 10:55pm

It's called (association) football NOT soccer.
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