Filipina Girl From New Zealand Takes Her Slime Show International After Fending Off Nickelodeon Lawsuit
from the slimeballs dept
Update: As a reader helpfully pointed out in the comments, the original source article for this post incorrectly suggested that Weischede had defeated Viacom in a legal battle. In the link included in the comment, which provides far more detail, it turns out that this was resolved when Viacom dropped its opposition as opposed to having it defeated. I have left in the original post and inputted this update for the sake of clarity.
You may not recall the name Katharina Weischede, but we wrote about this Filipina teenager from New Zealand back in 2018, when Viacom decided to oppose the 13 year old on trademark grounds because she dared to make and sell "slime" as a business. More specifically, Katharina has earned the nickname in New Zealand of "Slime Princess", which is what she applied for in her trademark application. Viacom opposed the application, citing that its Nickelodeon division has trademark rights for "slime" in the country already.
It was an absurd opposition on every level, from Katharina's company carrying something like a $20k valuation at the time, to the overly broad mark which Viacom was purporting to be protecting, to the pure PR nightmare that was getting into a legal battle with a bright teenager looking to start a fun business.
And, to make the whole thing worse, The Slime Princess (TM) defeated Viacom at the trademark office.
Katharina, however, stood her ground and started an campaign via a Givealittle page to raise money for a legal battle with the entertainment giants to keep her trademark. According to her, the support she received from kids and adults all over New Zealand have really inspired her to fight for her passion.
After a grueling legal battle, Katharina prevailed in court and has slain the giant that threatened her kingdom of slimes. Nearly two years after the case, she now continues to make her own creations of slimes and builds an army of fans and supporters via her own platforms and networks to continue bringing smiles in the faces of young kids and even adults.
And, far from simply taking the win and staying silent, she is taking her show on the road. Katharina is visiting the Philippines to share the story of her business, including the legal struggle with Viacom, to other young entrepreneurs. At 13, she has a legal victory over a massive entertainment company on her belt, not to mention her story in starting her own business at that age to begin with. It's a cool story and one that hopefully will highlight to others that standing up to big businesses is in fact possible.
She will be staying in the country for a few days to meet with kids, share her stories, play with them and make fun slimes.
“It’s going to be a an amazing experience here. I’ve always looked forward to sharing it with the kids here in the Philippines. I dreamt of experiencing it here, and now I am here, this is going to be different and special.”
Slime-on, Slime Princess (TM).
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Filed Under: katharina weischede, new zealand, nickleodian, philippines, slime, slime princess
Companies: viacom
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It was an absurd opposition on every level, from Katharina's company carrying something like a $20k valuation at the time
Yeah, strange as it is, homemade slime is now the fidget spinner of 2019. Inexplicable, yet a popular winner on many social media platforms.
You'd think Viacom would have learned that chasing after children is generally a fucked up thing to do, but corporations never seem to grasp the idea that suing kids based on IP law really doesn't win you support.
Maybe Nickelodeon saw the slime moneymaking revolution and felt threatened/regret that they didn't cash in. In which case... tough tits.
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Re:
"corporations never seem to grasp the idea that suing kids based on IP law really doesn't win you support"
They're not interested in support, they're interested in removing competition. It's usually a winning tactic, because the average kid doesn't have the means to fight, and cases like this rarely get traction in the media outlets the average parent pays attention to.
"Maybe Nickelodeon saw the slime moneymaking revolution"
It's more like "we did something in the 80s, so nobody is allowed to do anything remotely similar without paying us".
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Sorry, not convinced
When I think of slime, I certainly do not think of some kid in NZ.
Indeed, slime is the very essence of Viacom (Nickelodeon), and it works the other way, too. When someone says Viacom, many people think ``slime''.
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Viacom Trademark?
Viacom may not have a copyright on the word "slime," but I can safely say they own the title.
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Protection
Although there are very good reasons to have trademarks, this hilights how they have become overly broad in scope and weaponized to stifle competition, like most Imaginary Property.
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Interesting
What surprises me more, and not at all, is that Cartoon Network hasn't opposed her trademark. After all, the Slime Princess is a prime character in Adventure Time, and has been for years. But I guess that CN realizes that attacking kids never helps your image. It takes a certain kind of lawyer to take a kid to court over a trademark.
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She didn't quite "defeat" Viacom at the Trademark Office
Unfortunately, she didn't quite "defeat" Viacom at the Trademark Office -- mostly in the court of public relations, I think: Viacom withdrew its opposition to her trademark. See https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12225594
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Re: Viacom Trademark?
No, no they don't. Read the article before commenting.
Viacom tried to bully A CHILD and got their asses beat fully and completely with a wedgie thrown in for good measure.
Viacom HATE children, but know they're a source of money...must be very galling for them.
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Re: Sorry, not convinced
Interesting. When I think of Slime, I either think of this or this. Must be because I took upon different interests as I grew older…
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Re: Viacom Trademark?
They absolutely do not. Otherwise Slime Rancher and Dragon Quest would not exist.
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Re: Re: Viacom Trademark?
Occasionally, it is obvious that a point went sufficiently far over a reader's head that his/her hair was not mussed. Let me help to improve your grasp. To say that Viacom owns the title "slime" means Viacom is slime.
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Re: Re: Viacom Trademark?
Same as my reply to the previous clueless wart.
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Re: Re: Sorry, not convinced
I think of Ghostbusters 2, which I'd probably seen 20 times before I'd ever heard of Nickelodeon from across the pond.
Why, it's almost as if art is subjective, and it's a bad idea for one company to be able to claim every expression of an idea...
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Re: She didn't quite "defeat" Viacom at the Trademark Office
So it's not a case of "she beat them" but "they turned and ran"?
I'm pretty sure "winning by default" is, by default, winning...
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Viacom Trademark?
"corporations never seem to grasp the idea that suing kids based on IP law really doesn't win you support"
They're not interested in support, they're interested in removing competition. It's usually a winning tactic, because the average kid doesn't have the means to fight, and cases like this rarely get traction in the media outlets the average parent pays attention to.
"Maybe Nickelodeon saw the slime moneymaking revolution"
It's more like "we did something in the 80s, so nobody is allowed to do anything remotely similar without paying us".
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WOOT!
More stories like this please. The gatekeepers are almost always wrong and selfish. It's nice to see them lose once in a while.
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Re:member when you promised to leave forever?
Why you still here bro?
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Sorry, there are just way too many people who think they know what "slime" is but have never once even been near a swamp.
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Slime is a German Punk band https://www.slime.de
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Re: Sorry, not convinced
When I think of slime, I think of Ghostbusters and Slimer...
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