Michael Jackson Estate goes after popcorn website

ivy

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Estate is going after KingOfPop.com - a website that sells popcorn. Kingofpop website argues "pop" is a nickname for popcorn. Estate is claiming they are using MJ's name to sell popcorn. Estate is wanting to shut down the website plus damages.
 
^^Never ever has anyone ever called popcorn "pop." Soda, Coke, and Pepsi, yes. Popcorn no.
Hope they win. They should have that domain name.
 
Estate is going after KingOfPop.com - a website that sells popcorn. Kingofpop website argues "pop" is a nickname for popcorn. Estate is claiming they are using MJ's name to sell popcorn. Estate is wanting to shut down the website plus damages.

That really sounded dumb. I mean the popcorn calling it "King of Pop".
 
^^Never ever has anyone ever called popcorn "pop." Soda, Coke, and Pepsi, yes. Popcorn no.
Hope they win. They should have that domain name.

This just confirms that the estate is a pathetic case of an estate. While their at it, why not go after Vans too for their "Off The Wall" brand.
 
mj-popcorn.gif
 
Yes, the estate really don't have more important things to do. :rolleyes2:
 
This just confirms that the estate is a pathetic case of an estate. While their at it, why not go after Vans too for their "Off The Wall" brand.

Excuse me but actually I think your post is quite pathetic. Estate owns the "King of Pop" trademark. There's nothing "pathetic" in protecting their trademark. This is not the first or last time Estate has protected their trademark and/or copyrights. Furthermore "Off the wall" is not a trademark of Estate, it's actually trademarked by Vans. So I recommend not commenting if you don't understand trademarks.

Yes, the estate really don't have more important things to do. :rolleyes2:

You know Estate isn't 2 guys sitting in a room running it, right? They have a lot of staff - which includes a law firm who handles all the trademark / copyright matters.
 
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Excuse me but actually I think your post is quite pathetic. Estate owns the "King of Pop" trademark. There's nothing "pathetic" in protecting their trademark. This is not the first or last time Estate has protected their trademark and/or copyrights. Furthermore "Off the wall" is not a trademark of Estate, it's actually trademarked by Vans. So I recommend not commenting if you don't understand trademarks.



You know Estate isn't 2 guys sitting in a room running it, right? They have a lot of staff - which includes a law firm who handles all the trademark / copyright matters.

NO! This a waste of the estate's time, why not go after the impersonators who dress up like MJ then?
 
^^Never ever has anyone ever called popcorn "pop." Soda, Coke, and Pepsi, yes. Popcorn no.
Hope they win. They should have that domain name.

This is utterly ridiculous, I shall not support the estate again. They lunatics!
 
Wow will these ppls every learn King Of Pop are their for real? I agree with you Barbee i don't see how you can give a nickname for popcorn (pop)
 
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Wait.....what???? 0_0 ......are the estate for real???? :doh:

You know with all that stuff with the jackson family & the estate i was always on the estate's side.....now im not sure anymore.

If the estate really want us mj fans to take them seriously they need to stop with this stupid nonesense with suing ppl that have nothing to do with mj & his work.

To sue a website just cuz they sell poporn is just beyound silly!!!

You know those rumors bout mj not trusting branca.....im NOW starting to belive it....
 
You're just being sarcastic, right? You know the importance of trademarks and domain names.

Popcorn is not a "trademark" of mj!! that is the most craziest thing i have ever heard!!!
They might as well sue all cinema's around the world that sell popcorn especially since some have recently shown the off the wall documentary!

This whole thing is the most laughable thing ive ever heard! :lol:
 
Popcorn is not a "trademark" of mj!! that is the most craziest thing i have ever heard!!!

"king of pop" is a trademark of MJ and this website/company name is "king of pop" - it's an exact match to Estate's trademark. So this is not about popcorn. Let's read better people.
 
Kinda confused why some are having such a hard time understanding this. Its about copyright infringement.whats difficult about that
 
I cannot post the whole article but Law360 has at least half of it, so maybe people understand more why the estate are after these people.

Jackson Estate Says Popcorn Site KingOfPop.com Violates TM
By Daniel Siegal

Law360, Los Angeles (February 26, 2016, 9:20 PM ET) -- Michael Jackson’s estate blasted GourmetGiftBaskets in a suit filed Thursday in California federal court alleging the online gourmet popcorn retailer infringed the deceased megastar’s trademark rights by launching sales site KingOfPop.com and making “sham” excuses for using Jackson’s nickname.

In a complaint filed in the Central District of California, John Branca and John McClain, the executors of Jackson’s estate, and Triumph International Inc., a company controlled by the executors that holds many of the estate’s publicity and trademark rights, allege that GourmetGiftBaskets.Com Inc. is violating those...

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Now we got that clear what the suit is about, now check this database:
http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database

Triumph International owns King Of Pop trademark and these guys who have been sued, should have checked that database just to see in King Of Pop is already registered trademark, which it is, but still trying to use it.
 
Thanks Bubs for infor on this. The Estate has that right to sue plain and simple.
 
The “King of Pop” Goes After KingofPop.com
Blog Advertising & Marketing Law News

Winston & Strawn LLP

USA March 3 2016

The estate of Michael Jackson recently filed a complaint against GourmetGiftBaskets.com alleging that the company’s registration and use of the domain name KingofPop.com constitutes a false and misleading association with Michael Jackson under the Lanham Act due to his reputation of being the “King of Pop,” dilutes Jackson’s famous “King of Pop” mark, violates his right of publicity, and constitutes cybersquatting under Federal and California state law. The estate holds federal registrations for KING OF POP in connection with several goods and services and claims that the mark is widely recognized by the public such that it has become famous.

The domain name KingOfPop.com had been previously used for a Michael Jackson fan site, and the estate alleges that GourmetGiftBaskets.com knowingly and in bad faith purchased the domain name because of this association with Michael Jackson. The complaint further alleges that the popcorn company’s bad faith is established by the fact that “Pop” is not a common reference to popcorn and that the company may have considered whether “King of Pop” was identified with a particular individual. It also appears that the estate is simultaneously opposing GourmetGiftBaskets.com’s applications for KingOfPop.com at the USPTO, and prior to the filing of those applications, the estate had sent the company letters warning it that the estate believed GourmetGiftBaskets.com’s use of the domain name was infringing.

TIP: A person’s right to control the commercial use of their name (and likeness) is protected under both state right of publicity laws and, in some cases, the Lanham Act. Moreover, in many states, a person’s right to control the commercial use of his or her name can be enforced by the person’s estate following his or her death.

Winston & Strawn LLP - Brian D. Fergemann and Monique N. Bhargava

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6c3f8b2d-3823-4d7d-b585-319adebba026
 
Thanks Ivy for your blog post about this case. There were some funny bits such as"
"Estate also provided examples of official merchandise that included the use of “King of Pop”. GGB countered with several articles mentioning new King of Pop (for Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake etc.) and an article stating MJ wasn’t the first or the last King of Pop"

:doh:

The complaint also makes it obvious that Estate didn’t believe GGB’s explanations about their selection of the company/website name. GGB claimed they had conversations and believed “King of Pop” was “rather ubiquitous without any specific defined identification with a single individual or thing”. However GGB also claimed they discussed how “it would be undesirable to have an association with Michael Jackson given that his reputation prior to his death was not always viewed as terribly good or wholesome”. Estate take issue with both negative towards MJ and quite unbelievable claims. They also contradict each other. GGB simultaneously claim “King of Pop” was ubiquitous and did not refer to anyone particular but they also discussed its association with MJ. Added with the claims that pop is a nickname for popcorn, Estate believes GGB tried to register “King of Pop” trademark with bad faith intent to capitalize on MJ’s nickname and goodwill associated with it.

Yeah right, KOP not associated with anything or anyone:smilerolleyes:
If you google King of Pop, Michael comes up.


For people who hasn't read about this case in Ivy's blog, here is the link to it
http://dailymichael.com/lawsuits/other/318-the-king-of-pop-lawsuit


This is their original website
http://www.gourmetgiftbaskets.com
but 2015 they took King of pop to use
http://www.kingofpop.com/About-Us.asp
 
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What a bunch of numpties. Contridictions all over the place
 
It doesn't matter if some papers used it (or rather, tried to use it) for other celebs. If it's a registered trademark of the MJ Estate then it seals the deal IMO. It's not like they haven't been warned about that fact before the Estate filed a lawsuit.

BTW, it never stuck for other celebs - so much so that Timberlake, for example, had to settle for "President of Pop". Exactly because it's always been associated with MJ.
 
Haha. If Michael's reputation was so negative, why would they want to take a chance using that trademark for their popcorn? This is such a no brainer. They better lose. Quick.
 
Overall they had very weak arguments if you ask me.

It started with "anyone can be called the king of pop". and they refer to media articles about the "new king of pop" written for Timberlake, Bieber, Adam Levine, even Beyonce etc. As Estate pointed out - hilariously I might add- all of those articles mention Michael as the king of pop. Also as Estate pointed out none of those artists ever refer to themselves as King of Pop.

Perhaps the most hilarious thing for me was the media article written to introduce their popcorn. That article made a reference to Michael being called the King of Pop. So I can't imagine how can anyone believe that the "King of Pop" is an ubiquitous term that could apply to anyone.

They also contradict themselves with. "King of Pop" could be anybody claim and then saying they discussed how they didn't want to be associated with MJ. So they basically admit that they knew people would associate King of pop with Michael Jackson.

As for their website, they have 3-4 of them. King of Pop is the latest website.

If it's a registered trademark of the MJ Estate then it seals the deal IMO.

the only reason this has been going on is that there are multiple categories at trademark registration and different parties can use the same name for different stuff under different categories. For example there could be a company using "ABC" to sell cakes and another company can have a "ABC" named hardware store. Estate has the trademark registration in several categories but not in popcorn category. However Estate's argument is that Michael is so famous that the King of Pop name is so well known that even this is a popcorn people will assume a connection to MJ. Given how the search engines/Google Adwords related MJ to King of Pop and therefore show the popcorn ads / suggestions at MJ related websites, they have a point.
 
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I can't help it. Its so crazy that I just think the whole thing is funny. They know they're "doing wrong". Is their logo that picture of Michael eating popcorn? If not, it should be. Lol.
 
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