More Comic Conventions Change Their Names After Crazy SDCC Attorney's Fees And Injunction Ruling
from the what's-in-a-name? dept
We were just talking about the odd ruling that came down in which the court overseeing the trademark dispute between the San Diego Comic-Con and the former Salt Lake Comic Con somehow awarded $4 million in attorney's fees, despite the jury award for trademark infringement amounting only to $20k. In addition to the award of attorney's fees, Judge Battaglia also issued an injunction barring the Salt Lake show from calling itself any variation of the term "comic con" but, oddly, refused to issue a similar injunction barring it from calling itself a "comic convention." As we noted at the time, it's plainly absurd that the "vention" difference there is doing that much heavy lifting in the court's mind.
But the reverberations of the ruling are now being felt throughout the country, with one company that puts on many comic conventions doing sweeping name changes for many of its shows.
Tampa Bay Comic Con has changed its name to Tampa Bay Comic Convention. The change comes less than two weeks after a federal judge in California ordered organizers of Salt Lake Comic Con to pay nearly $4 million in attorneys’ fees and costs to San Diego Comic Convention in a trademark infringement suit.
Tampa Bay Comic Con co-founder Stephen Solomon, a manager at Imaginarium, the company that has run Tampa Bay Comic Con and similarly-branded comic conventions around the U.S. since 2010, confirmed the name change Wednesday after re-branded images appeared on the convention’s social media. Solomon declined to comment on whether that ruling had anything to do with the Tampa Bay Comic Con name change.
He can decline to comment on that all he wants, but it's pretty plain what is going on here. Those putting on other comic conventions throughout the country have been keeping a watchful eye on the fight between SLCC and SDCC. With this enormous award of attorney's fees after such a paltry judgement, convention organizers are simply doing the math and realizing that even if they convince a jury that its infringement isn't willful in the future, they can still get slammed with attorney's fees. They also likely know that after the ruling on the injunction that prevents SLCC from using any variation of the "comic con" term, the SDCC is surely coming for them next. And, so, they unilaterally disarm.
It's at this point that I will insist again on pointing out how absurd every last bit of this is. To allow "comic con" to be a trademarkable term, but to admit that "comic convention" is not because of its descriptive nature, is so silly as to make one's head hurt. For millions of dollars to be exchanged because of the difference between those two terms, all on the pretense that the public is somehow confused as to whether the SDCC is in charge of all of these conventions, is crazy-pants. For the result of all of this to be tens or hundreds of other conventions proactively changing their generic names to slightly more generic names is downright infuriating.
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Filed Under: comic con, comic convention, comicon, trademark
Companies: san diego comic-con
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Con Game
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Re: Con Game
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Re: Con Game
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Re: Re: Con Game
This verdict was insane for a number of reasons, from "comic con" being a generic term to San Diego not being the first one to use that name.
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Not for long.
Soon to be: GenMeet, IndieGet, BudMunch
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Just so much to work with...
Several opportunities in fact, given SDCC convinced a judge that shortening 'convention' to 'con' belongs only to them. Really, legal thuggery paired with trying to monopolize a word with multiple connotations, one of them not so pleasant? The jokes practically write themselves.
'When you think 'con', think SDCC.'
'SDCC: For when you want a first-class con.'
'Why settle for a lesser con where they might not know what they're doing when you can let the SDCC show you how a con-job really works.'
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Even an elementary school student could explain just how absurd his ruling on this is.
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Sadly, the Law is not written so elementary school students can understand it. Not even adults can. Not even adults working in law enforcement. (Sadly, these ones are not required to.)
It might seems absurd. It probably is morally speaking. But lawyers can twist the words of the law to still make it the "legal truth".
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Also... this isn't likely to change the behavior of the con goers, they are still going to call it Whatever Comic Con.
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Say that five times fast
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Re:
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ComVen
I read that as Comics Venue
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Re: Conv
Or
Comics Con (with a plural of the first word)
Comic CON —where the CON is an acronym for Connoisseurs Offline Naturally (or make up your own).
Comic KHAN! (and then get sued by Paramount)
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"Welcome one and all to this year's Comic KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
Comic KHAN! (and then get sued by Paramount)
Only if you add a few A's to it.
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Re:
In fairness, the other SDCC is full of shit, too.
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Comic confvfe.
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What if SD gave a ComicCon and no one came?
Think all the studios would bother using an empty event has a place to launch teasers & exclusive content?
Fandom's really need to stop thinking someone else will deal with the problems. If you find what SDCC did horrible, skip a year. Be loud about why you are skipping. I hear there is an awesome Comics Convention in Salt Lake & hey no california traffic & jacked up prices!
This was a stupid fight, before a Judge of questionable intelligence, so 1 asshole could threaten events across the country people attend.
Why would any of the fans accept some asshole deciding he owns a common phrase?
Boycott SDCC, be loud that as long as it is run by an asshole who thinks ComicCon belongs only to him its gonna be a very empty space in SD.
But then Nintendo has a history of abusing their fans who keep showing up asking to get screwed over once again.
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If you find what SDCC did horrible, skip a year.
A year? Yeah, if I went to cons pretty sure this would put the SDCC on my 'never again' list, after all as you pointed out there's apparently a con just as good over in Salt Lake, and it isn't run by legal thugs.
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Why not something easier...
BTW. I hold the rights to Con-V-Com, and freely allow anyone except-for San Diego Comic-Con, to use it. They can never use my new "phrase". If SDCC ever were to use it, it would cost them roughly 3.14 Trillion dollars.
Really, everyone should just boycott the malignant fuckers that are SDCC.
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