💥 Trainwreck Gloria Tesch / Sofia Nova - Author of the Maradonia series turned Republithot

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Sorry for double posting, but an online trademark application is $275 if you want a federal trademark that covers the entire US.

I've always maintained a strict "hands off" policy when it comes to cows (aside from when they come to play on the Farms) but my god is this ever tempting.
 
Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but I checked the trademark status on Maradonia and it seems to have expired /been cancelled March 25th. How odd that Papa Tesch would cancel the trademark just as the movie is about to hit "the theatres near you".
View attachment 90795

EDIT: Yeah, this movie ain't happening.

But why would Gloria post it on her Facebook and Instagram? Why would Gunter spend hundreds of dollars to rent the theater? It's probably just delayed like the Convertible video. As to why it expired, do you really think Gunter is a good businessman?
 
So my understanding would be that you'd own the title, but you couldnt sell any of the books, but you could make your own derivative works. However they'd have to work a deal with you to sell/distribute the movie.

However you wouldnt get any money anyway and they'd probably just distribute and dare you to sue to block them.
 
But why would Gloria post it on her Facebook and Instagram? Why would Gunter spend hundreds of dollars to rent the theater? It's probably just delayed like the Convertible video. As to why it expired, do you really think Gunter is a good businessman?

All of this comes with a big fat "ALLEGEDLY" as Papa Tesch is a dirty, stinkin' grifter, and GloGlo is all about dem appearances.
Also, it didn't really expire, as it says it was cancelled. Perhaps Gerry is scouting greener pastures, and ditched the movie altogether without bothering to tell anyone. We shall see. But, hey, I'm optimistic like the rest of you, and can't wait to get my hands on the movie.

EDIT: For me personally, it ain't about turning a profit if I owned the Maradonia trademark and went after the Tesches - I'd do it strictly for the butthurt, and make the Tesches stop tooting their cakehorns about Maradonia forever.

Check out all this activity in 2009 when Seven Bridges was self-published. Doc Gunther was very involved in the trademark registration process, and then 2016 only one acitivity, and that's the cancellation process. It seems deliberate.

2009 trademark activity.jpg


Also, the Marion del Ortega trust, despite stating otherwise on the Maradonia site, does not own the copyrights to any of the other stuff they listed -
the 'Sword Logo' and the 'Eagle Emblem', and the Maradonia Adventure Park. That's up for grabs, too.
 
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EDIT: For me personally, it ain't about turning a profit if I owned the Maradonia trademark and went after the Tesches - I'd do it strictly for the butthurt, and make the Tesches stop tooting their cakehorns about Maradonia forever.

You can't just register a trademark and start suing over it. Is has to have been actually used "in commerce" (or filed with the intent of using it in commerce with a requirement you actually submit paperwork showing you have in fact done so within a short period of time) and generally expire if they haven't been. I'm not sure why Teschdad would have actually gone ahead and canceled the trademark, though.

I think it's arguable it hasn't been a valid trademark even since it was registered, though, because its use "in commerce" has been pretty de minimis and nearly nonexistent. A period of three years of nonuse would abandon the trademark.

There's also the formal registration process. Letting the registration lapse isn't necessarily the same as abandoning the use of the mark and isn't even necessary to establish a mark, although registration makes legal action against infringers a lot less complicated and provides remedies not available to those who do not register.

ETA: After looking at this, the registration was not cancelled by Tesch, but by the automatic process that it was not renewed in a timely fashion after 6 years under § 8, see more here.

If the registrant fails to file, before the end of the sixth year
following registration, an affidavit or declaration that includes a
proper specimen or facsimile for each class of goods or services to
which the registration pertains, the registration will be cancelled as
to that class of goods or services. After the end of the sixth year
following registration, the Patent and Trademark Office will not accept
a substitute Section 8 affidavit or declaration filed to correct the
omission of a proper specimen or facsimile.

Oopsy daisy! This isn't one of your harmless errors, this screws you and is the kind of thing malpractice suits are about at least if you pay a lawyer to do shit like this and he doesn't. If you don't, though, kind of your own fault.

Might be a moot point as I have serious doubts as to whether it has been "used in commerce" in any sufficient manner even since it was filed years ago.
 
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Also, the Marion del Ortega trust, despite stating otherwise on the Maradonia site, does not own the copyrights to any of the other stuff they listed -
the 'Sword Logo' and the 'Eagle Emblem', and the Maradonia Adventure Park. That's up for grabs, too.

Are you saying the adventure park might not be happening? What a blow to Florida's tourism industry.
 
Starting to worry a little about that money I paid Gunter for the adventure park's parking concession....

Agree with AnOminous: trademark doesn't confer ownership, just helps protect your exploitation of it, but it costs money to maintain trademarks and copyrights on multiple products over the years. Once you find you've got a product you can't give away, it decreases the urgency of blocking others from stealing it.
 
Can we all chip in and buy this?
As for specimen, I'm sure @Null could whip up some sort of site with the Maradonia name on top.
This would be amazing, Maradonia owned by Kiwifarms.
Ok what are you going to do with it then? I mean really whats the purpose of owning it if your arent going to do anything with it.
 
Ok what are you going to do with it then? I mean really whats the purpose of owning it if your arent going to do anything with it.
Realistically, owning the TM to Maradonia will mean fuck-all. Gunter and the MDO Trust have already established the use of "Maradonia" in commerce (as half-assed as it may be) so, with or without a valid TM registration, they still have a de facto right to continue using the term in the markets they have established. Since you can buy Kindle versions of the Maradonia books (and I am assuming that the money goes to Gunter), you could make an argument that the Maradonia books have been offered for sale nationally, or maybe even internationally.

I'm also not entirely convinced that the Teschs have abandoned the TM, since they are still trying to sell/market the books (again, regardless of how half-assed the attempt may be). The US PTO doesn't make decisions re: abandonment so, (in order to get a decision on that, and assuming the Teschs had a valid registration) the Tesches would need to sue someone over TM infringement, the defendant would need to use a defense of abandonment, and then a court would need to make the determination. Since the TM has been cancelled, that whole discussion is pretty much moot -- the Tesches' establishment of use in commerce without a valid registration gives them a shield, but not a sword.

Further, a TM is nothing more than a right to use a name or brand in connection with a product (and the Tesches only registered a TM for books). It has nothing to do with copyrights or derivative works, so owning the Maradonia TM would not automatically confer a right to write books in the world of Maradonia that Glo-Glo has developed.

So, what good would it do to own the Maradonia TM? Even though I believe in following the Prime Directive for lolcows, I think it would totally yank Gunter's and Glo-Glo's chains to know that someone else owns the TM for their prized IP. As other folks have pointed out, it only costs a couple of hundred bucks to register it, and all we would need to do to establish use in commerce is crank out a "Sonichu in Maradonia" comic, run to Kinko's, print out 10 or 20 copies, and offer it for sale on the Farms.

We wouldn't be able to sue the Tesches, but the owner of the TM could always make an attempt to force them to license the name, or even try to sell it back to them. Hell, I'd donate 25 bucks to the cause, and would even volunteer my time to do the TM app (it's far from rocket science).
 
Realistically, owning the TM to Maradonia will mean fuck-all. Gunter and the MDO Trust have already established the use of "Maradonia" in commerce (as half-assed as it may be) so, with or without a valid TM registration, they still have a de facto right to continue using the term in the markets they have established. Since you can buy Kindle versions of the Maradonia books (and I am assuming that the money goes to Gunter), you could make an argument that the Maradonia books have been offered for sale nationally, or maybe even internationally.

I'm also not entirely convinced that the Teschs have abandoned the TM, since they are still trying to sell/market the books (again, regardless of how half-assed the attempt may be). The US PTO doesn't make decisions re: abandonment so, (in order to get a decision on that, and assuming the Teschs had a valid registration) the Tesches would need to sue someone over TM infringement, the defendant would need to use a defense of abandonment, and then a court would need to make the determination. Since the TM has been cancelled, that whole discussion is pretty much moot -- the Tesches' establishment of use in commerce without a valid registration gives them a shield, but not a sword.

Further, a TM is nothing more than a right to use a name or brand in connection with a product (and the Tesches only registered a TM for books). It has nothing to do with copyrights or derivative works, so owning the Maradonia TM would not automatically confer a right to write books in the world of Maradonia that Glo-Glo has developed.

So, what good would it do to own the Maradonia TM? Even though I believe in following the Prime Directive for lolcows, I think it would totally yank Gunter's and Glo-Glo's chains to know that someone else owns the TM for their prized IP. As other folks have pointed out, it only costs a couple of hundred bucks to register it, and all we would need to do to establish use in commerce is crank out a "Sonichu in Maradonia" comic, run to Kinko's, print out 10 or 20 copies, and offer it for sale on the Farms.

We wouldn't be able to sue the Tesches, but the owner of the TM could always make an attempt to force them to license the name, or even try to sell it back to them. Hell, I'd donate 25 bucks to the cause, and would even volunteer my time to do the TM app (it's far from rocket science).
Fair enough. 200 bucks to screw with a cow could probably be better spent finding John Flynts restraining order but if your willing to pony up the cash then go for it.

Would Sonichu in Maradonia hurt the owner in a legal case since the owner doesnt own Sonichu?
 
Would Sonichu in Maradonia hurt the owner in a legal case since the owner doesnt own Sonichu?
Only if the owner of Sonichu brought suit, and only if the courts held that Sonichu wasn't a completely derivative (i.e. ripped off) work and could actually be owned.

Maybe in that case, we could do "Asperchu in Maradonia". Somehow, I don't think ABL will sue any Kiwis.
 
Sure, there are many things that one could do with the valuable Maradonia trademark.
Maradoniafar.ms

Domain names are subject to the WIPO administrative DNRP process, which is a lot cheaper and more friendly to plaintiffs.

I'm also not entirely convinced that the Teschs have abandoned the TM, since they are still trying to sell/market the books (again, regardless of how half-assed the attempt may be).

Right. And people should understand the difference between owning a trademark and having a trademark registration. There are old Amish families who have been selling the same product for 200 years under the same name who own perfectly valid trademarks without having ever registered anything and having a religious objection to ever litigating.

So, what good would it do to own the Maradonia TM? Even though I believe in following the Prime Directive for lolcows, I think it would totally yank Gunter's and Glo-Glo's chains to know that someone else owns the TM for their prized IP.

And conversely, making a trademark registration doesn't mean you own something. It means you've filed a formal legal claim to own it and, by doing so in the federal registry, have put everyone in the country formally on notice that you have done so.

Doesn't mean you own it, just that you've made your claim to it, and nobody can subsequently claim they didn't know, because you've filed it in the public registry specifically for keeping track of such claims.
 
Domain names are subject to the WIPO administrative DNRP process, which is a lot cheaper and more friendly to plaintiffs.



Right. And people should understand the difference between owning a trademark and having a trademark registration. There are old Amish families who have been selling the same product for 200 years under the same name who own perfectly valid trademarks without having ever registered anything and having a religious objection to ever litigating.



And conversely, making a trademark registration doesn't mean you own something. It means you've filed a formal legal claim to own it and, by doing so in the federal registry, have put everyone in the country formally on notice that you have done so.

Doesn't mean you own it, just that you've made your claim to it, and nobody can subsequently claim they didn't know, because you've filed it in the public registry specifically for keeping track of such claims.


This would be more like owning a relic of fail.
There is no actual use for the trademark, but it would be a pretty interesting thing to own as a collective and maybe establish a line of communication with Dr. Gerry "Grift" Tesch and more insight into their projects.
I would donate $5 just for the hell of it.
 
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