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).

Filed Under: katharina weischede, new zealand, nickleodian, philippines, slime, slime princess
Companies: viacom

Nickelodeon Is Opposing A 12 Year Old New Zealand Girl's 'Slime' Trademark For Some Reason

from the you-can't-do-that-in-new-zealand dept

Viacom has decided to take its trademark bullying game international and possibly against the most sympathetic target it could find. Nickelodeon, owned by Viacom, has decided to oppose the trademark registration of a 12 year old girl in New Zealand, claiming its trademark on the word "slime" is too important. Katharina Weischede has managed to build up an online brand in New Zealand for producing and playing with "slime." She made a business out of it and attempted to trademark "slime princess", only to find Nickelodeon opposing it.

What started off as a hobby had by late 2017 become a home-based business called "Slime Princess". Now known by her friends, family and even strangers as the "Slime Princess", she eventually decided to trademark her business's name. However, Katharina was met with opposition by Viacom, the owners of children's entertainment channel Nickelodeon. After applying to trademark "Slime Princess" earlier this year, Katharina received a letter from Viacom opposing the trademark. According to the New Zealand Intellectual Property office, Viacom has trademarked the word "slime".

Everything about this is absurd. We can start with how unlikely it would be for any confusion to exist between Weishede and Nickelodeon, move on to the very generic and broad mark that Viacom apparently holds in New Zealand, take a turn to point out that Weishede's business has something like $20k in valuation, and finish off by simply pointing out the PR nightmare that is the parent company of a kids' network battling a 12 year old at the trademark office.

The good news is that Weishede appears to be a very bright young woman.

Aside from running her business, Katharina is interested in becoming a human rights lawyer.

This case was "a great start to show people that you fight for what you believe in", she said. "I wanted to fight because I made this and it's not just about the slime. It's the brand itself. People don't only come for the slime, they go and see me."

She has set up a page to collect money for the legal fees to fight this. Her family is also backing her and she is working with a lawyer, who is hinting at the fact that Viacom certainly didn't have to go the route of fighting a trademark battle with a 12 year old.

Katharina's lawyer, Alex Lee, said the 12-year-old had worked very hard to build up her profile and her brand.

"This is a young girl's dream," he said. "If in fact the other party wanted to find a way to work with her that's great but certainly, we wouldn't want to think the idea is to prevent a young teenager who already has a profile with a particular brand from being denied her rights."

And finding a way to work with her is exactly what Viacom should be doing here, or it risks tarnishing the reputation Nickelodeon has worldwide over the "threat" of a bright 12 year old young woman. Best of luck winning that PR battle.

Filed Under: katharina weischede, new zealand, slime, trademark, trademark bullying
Companies: nickelodeon, viacom