MLB blocks WWE trademarking The Bella Twins.

[NegativeFeedback]

Okay so here's the news:

The Minnesota Twins are opposing WWE’s registration of the trademark on “Bella Twins.” No specific reason is given in the filing. The team has requested an extension and have until February 12th to file their official opposition.

I just can't wrap my head around this. I've been googling for about 15 minutes trying to find an instance on the internet where "Bella Twins" is not being used to refer to the WWE duo and I just can't find ANY, let alone one that mentions the Minnesota Twins in any way. In fact, if you search for "Bella Twins" + "Minnesota" -"WWE" -"Divas", your search results will be filled of appearances the Bella Twins have had in Minnesota!

This is boggling my mind. Why do you guys think the Twins have decided to trademark on the duo? What did WWE do to piss them off?

 

[fenderjapan]

They clearly have the same type of lawyers as Monster Cables, who protest every attempted registration of a trademark with the name Monster in it. The Green Monster, Monster.com, Monster Garage, Monsters Inc., Monster Mini Golf.

There is probably someone who works for the Twins who just protests literally anything that has Twins in it.

 

[Slyfox696]

This is boggling my mind. Why do you guys think the Twins have decided to trademark on the duo? What did WWE do to piss them off?

Probably nothing. I'm sure the Minnesota Twins have a trademark on "Minnesota Twins", so it is their legal duty to protect their trademark.

Trademarks must be actively used and defended. A company which fails to defend a trademark against infringement may lose some or all of its exclusive rights. Obviously, the most effective trademark policing program is one that allows a company to maintain and maximize its rights while avoiding the need for expensive litigation. This can be accomplished by setting up a watch service to monitor third party applications which may be similar, drafting and sending out cease and desist letters to suspected infringers and filing opposition (against applications) and cancellation (against registrations) proceedings. Opposition and cancellation proceedings are often much less expensive than a full-blown trial and can be a cheaper means of enforcing one’s rights.

http://www.translegal.com/intellectual-property-law/policing-trademarks-how-much-is-too-much

It's merely a legal thing. The MLB Twins likely have to protect their trademark, so they automatically file opposition to any group who files a trademark which mark lessen the power of that trademark.

It's likely just typical legal posturing.

 

[Pedigree1]

I understand the Minnesota Twins wanting to protect their name i do.. This is just a legal thing that will get sorted out,is it stupid yes IMO it is but the Bella Twins will be known as the Bella Twins! Like SlyFox said,its just legal posturing

 

[Rvdrvd]

Part of keeping a copyright is defending it, so even if they don't really care or know they'll lose they will still try to block just to show that they are vigilant in defending their copyright. It wouldn't surprise me if they tried to block any and every copyright filed with the word "Twins" in it.

 

[Rayne]

Pretty much an automatic move on behalf of the Minnesota Twins. As others have said, part of having a copyright is defending it; if yousee what you believe could be a copyright breech and don't defend it in due course, it's considered abandoning the copyright.

Notable- but not relevant to a courtroom decision on copyright- is that the Minnesota Twins do not own the "twins.com" domain name, which appears to be in the hands of a cybersquatting company.

One might ask how people could possibly confuse the Minnesota Twins and the Bella Twins, but don't overlook the fact that both MLB and the WWE compete in both 'sports' and 'entertainment' categories. (Not in terms of the phrase for professional wrestling that's trendy, in terms of types of companies.) I think that the relevant court will decide that the two are different enough that copyright wouldn't apply, but it's not entirely unreasonable that the Minnesota Twins' copyright could be upheld.