So an interesting little tidbit was recently brought to our attention. It seems that Warner Brothers might be trying to prevent Universal from registering the "Fantastic Worlds" mark.
After a trademark is filed and its application is reviewed and approved by the USPTO, there's a 30 day period where the mark is published in the Official Gazette to notify the public of the intent to register the mark. During this period, any party can file for opposition for any number of reasons, but typically, the most common reason is if they believe the mark is too close to one of their own and may cause confusion.
The
Fantastic Worlds mark was published on November 6th 2018, and less than a month later on December 4th, Warner Brothers filed a 30 day Request for Extension of Time to Oppose:
This request was granted, so Warner Brothers then had until January 5th, 2019 to get their case together to file their opposition. However, it seems that the additional 30 days still wasn't enough time, because on January 3rd they filed yet another Request for Extension of Time to Oppose - this time for 60 days and this time with the added language of "for Good Cause" specifically citing the need for "
additional time to confer with counsel":
It should be noted that this case is being handled through the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), which is a a
"kinder, gentler form of litigation. There are no court hearings in TTAB actions, as nearly all matters are handled in writing. The Board does not have authority to impose any monetary sanctions." So Warner Brothers isn't suing Universal or anything serious like that. They now have until March 6th to file their Notice of Opposition which will outline their case for why they believe "Fantastic Worlds" might infringe on their existing marks.
I think it's pretty obvious which mark(s) Warner Brothers thinks the name is too similar to, based on the initial
knee-jerk reactions when the Fantastic Worlds mark was first filed.
What's most interesting to me, however, is the fact that any of this is necessary at all. You'd think that if Uni and WB were in discussions about the inclusion of Fantastic Beasts attractions in their new third park that the name of that third park might have come up. I guess it's possible Universal is really that secretive even when working with their largest IP partner, but it just seems like somewhat of an obvious discussion to have considering how similar the name is.
Anyway, we'll be sure to keep an eye on the TTAB side of things for any updates - but I figured this might spark some new, exciting discussion in the meantime!