The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has cancelled a set of trade marks for “Super Hero” and “Super Heroes” which were jointly owned by Marvel and DC. The cancellation was decided upon in a tribunal at the request of S.J. Richold, a comic book artist from London.
S.J. Richold, who is the creator of the Superbabies comic, applied to cancel the marks in May 2024 after DC had accused his company of infringing the marks by applying for the mark “Super Babies”. Superbabies argued that Marvel and DC cannot own trade marks together, and that they cannot claim ownership of an entire genre. Marvel and DC did not file a defence to the cancellation proceedings, which led the USPTO to cancel the marks by default.
This decision is significant because the two companies have had a monopoly over the words “Super Hero” and “Super Heroes” since 1967. Superbabies’ attorney stated that the decision was not just a win for Superbabies but also for creativity and innovation. Further, he stated that by putting “Super Hero” and “Super Heroes” back in the public domain, it makes it available to all storytellers.
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