Kraken sued over trademark infringement of Winter Classic jerseys
- Thread starter LadyStanley
- Start date
For teams that are dipping into history of the city, like the Canucks with Millionnaires look in 2014, Kraken with he Metropolitians, Avs with the Rockies, etc. really need to have the legal team ensure that you are not violating any trademarks or whether the team owns the trademarks.
Will end up resulting in money paid to whoever owns the Metros trademark.
Will end up resulting in money paid to whoever owns the Metros trademark.
SomeDude
Registered User
I would think a few cease and desist letters and/or other failed settlement discussions would have occurred before a lawsuit filed.
A1LeafNation
Obsession beats talent everytime!!
- Oct 17, 2010
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Yukon Joe
Registered User
Standard disclaimer: I'm a lawyer, but not licensed to practice in Washington State (or anywhere in the US), and I do not practice in IP law at all.
so the plaintiff in the lawsuit "Bellevue entrepreneur Paul Kim" seems like an IP squatter. he certainly had nothing to do with the original Seattle Metropolitans, but he applied for, and was granted, the trademark back in 2014.
There is a procedure to apply to strike a trademark, but it involves going to court and which is always unpredictable. So the Seattle Kraken are faced with trying to calculate how much is it worth to just buy out Paul Kim versus the costs of taking him to court. According to the article (which seems heavily slanted towards Kim) they made offers, Kim rejected them, and so they are going to court.
Odds are still that it will settle. Seattle Kraken probably hate being extorted by an IP squatter like this, but at some point it is cheaper to settle than risk going to court.
so the plaintiff in the lawsuit "Bellevue entrepreneur Paul Kim" seems like an IP squatter. he certainly had nothing to do with the original Seattle Metropolitans, but he applied for, and was granted, the trademark back in 2014.
There is a procedure to apply to strike a trademark, but it involves going to court and which is always unpredictable. So the Seattle Kraken are faced with trying to calculate how much is it worth to just buy out Paul Kim versus the costs of taking him to court. According to the article (which seems heavily slanted towards Kim) they made offers, Kim rejected them, and so they are going to court.
Odds are still that it will settle. Seattle Kraken probably hate being extorted by an IP squatter like this, but at some point it is cheaper to settle than risk going to court.
seattle times main beat writer is always writing negative on the team and trashing them when ever he can. There's a reason us seattle fans don't like him.
Here's the thing our winter classic jersey don't even come close to being the exactly thing the colors the different the S is our logo. And it says kraken not seattle. Also he didn't apply he was sued and settled thus got the trandemark.
He expected he would get millions out of it and is upset that he got 'lowballed' so he's suing demanding payment when he has no legal claim to say we copied him.
Our ownership group has 3 billionares. odds that they probably fight this unlike the last thing they got sued for which had a more vaild point. (the lawsuit over the sports bar name)
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
****ing absurd that someone can squat on IP like this. If there’s any justice, this guy will walk away with more legal bills than anything.
Not that I side with Kim on this, but is it really fair to call him an IP squatter?
Seems like he has used the IP to produce and sell Metros merch since before the Kraken became a reality, rather than buying the name and hoping a lawsuit results from it someday.
Seems like he has used the IP to produce and sell Metros merch since before the Kraken became a reality, rather than buying the name and hoping a lawsuit results from it someday.
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
As far as I’m concerned, copyrighting someone else’s work from 100 years ago is in the same category as squatting. He had nothing to do with the creation of this IP, he simply took advantage of its availability in the same way that an actual squatter finds an empty building and refuses to leave.
100%. He didn't create the IP in any way. The logos are long out of copyright (and we're likely ineligible anyway as they're too simple to meet the threshold of originality). And the trademark did not see continuous use so should have been considered ineligible too. He's a bum trading on history he had nothing to do with for profit.
Worth noting the Vancouver Millionaires logo and uniform was at one point owned by a local musician, who ended up selling it to the Canucks around 2010. This is why they were able to use it for the 2014 Heritage Classic and subsequent events.
How that guy got the design is not clear, though I (anecdotally) can say I previously saw wool Millionaires sweaters on sale at the Canucks team store back in 1998, though I was a kid then.
How that guy got the design is not clear, though I (anecdotally) can say I previously saw wool Millionaires sweaters on sale at the Canucks team store back in 1998, though I was a kid then.
BigBadBruins7708
Registered User
Well the S on the WC jersey is the Kraken logo, not the Metropolitans S. Unless the guy is claiming the rights to any red S
Bear of Bad News
Your Third or Fourth Favorite HFBoards Admin
- Sep 27, 2005
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If he's thinking that then he needs a better trademark lawyer cause that's not how trademarks work.
