SL Comic Con reports 'significant progress' in trademark dispute

SL Comic Con reports 'significant progress' in trademark dispute

(Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News/File)


3 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — On the eve of guest announcements for its next pop culture event, Salt Lake Comic Con founders reported positive negotiations with their San Diego rival in an ongoing trademark dispute.

Bryan Brandenburg, the popular Utah convention's chief marketing officer, spoke optimistically Monday about a conference with representatives from San Diego Comic-Con. The two comic and pop culture events are approaching a possible settlement in their trademark lawsuit over use of the name "comic con."

"We met with the principal of San Diego Comic Con in negotiating settlements and have made significant progress," Brandenburg said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent and Trademark office on Monday suspended a dispute between the two over Salt Lake Comic Con's trademark on its name, which was awarded in July. The suspension puts San Diego's opposition to the trademark on hold pending the outcome of the federal case.

Salt Lake Comic Con founders have said the trademark, which protected the name of their event while stipulating the term "comic con" was too generic on its own, speaks to the strength of their case.

In its complaint to the patent office, San Diego Comic-Con contends similar names between the two events causes confusion.

Related

San Diego Comic-Con, a fixture in pop culture, filed a trademark violation lawsuit against Salt Lake's startup event in August 2014 after the Utah convention became an overnight success. In the lawsuit, the San Diego convention claims legal ownership over the term "comic con" in its various forms, though similar events around the country use it.

San Diego Comic-Con holds the trademark on "comic-con," with a hyphen, but abandoned its 1995 bid for the rights to "comic con" with a space.

Salt Lake Comic Con put on its third convention in September, drawing at least 120,000 fans, attracting A-list celebrities like "Captain America" star Chris Evans, and setting a world record for the largest meet-up of costumed comic book fans.

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
McKenzie Romero

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast