Salt Lake Comic Con Wins One Battle, Legal War Continues

Salt Lake Comic Con has met with success on one front in their continued battle to use the words “comic con” in their name.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Dan Farr Productions the trademark for the name “Salt Lake Comic Con®”.

The trademark (Reg. No. 4,774,453 Serial # 86-353,123) was issued on July 14, 2015 and is for: “Education and entertainment services, namely, organizing, producing, and conducting conventions in the fields of gaming, comics, television, movies, technology, science fiction, fantasy, and popular culture for entertainment purposes.”

The trademark specifies that no claim is made to the exclusive right to use “comic con” apart from the mark as shown. This specification may work to bolster SLCC’s defense against the lawsuit filed last year by San Diego’s Comic-Con International, which claims that they own the words “comic con” exclusively, despite records showing they do not.

Organizer Dan Farr appeared on Good 4 Utah (KTVX) and said, “Our position all along is the term “comic con” was a term that anybody could use, and obviously you put something descriptive in front of it like ours, is Salt Lake Comic Con, or if you had Denver Comic Con, or whatever it may be. That the term is basically fair use.”

Farr clarifies that the lawsuit has not been dismissed yet. The legal team for SLCC is currently looking at how the trademark decision will impact the legal battle. Farr calls it “a major win” for the Salt Lake event.

“We don’t harbor ill will towards the people in San Diego. They’re just running a business, and we want them to be successful. We’d like to be successful. We want everybody that does these events around the nation … we want them to be successful, and I think this sets the pathway to do that.”

Chris Evans will be among the celebrities appearing at SLCC, which runs September 24-26.

(full video at KTVX)