Christian vs. WWE; "Captain Charisma" on a pole match

[Innovator]

Credit: PWInsider.com

As mentioned on PWInsider.com earlier this week, WWE and Christian Cage could very well end up in court over who has the rights to the name "Captain Charisma".

According to papers filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, WWE is opposing William Reso's (Christian's) applications to trademark the name "Captain Charisma" for "goods and services relating to professional wrestling".

WWE's claims is that their contract with Christian included a stipulation that, with the exception of what was agreed upon as being "Old Intellectual Property", that any ring name or nickname used by the wrestler during the time Christian was under contract is the property of WWE. Captain Charisma, which first came into use while he was under a WWE deal, is not listed as "Old Intellectual Property" according to WWE.

WWE also states that the agreement with Christian included the stipulation that any ring name or nickname used while he was under contract is owned in "perpetuity" by WWE, even once Christian's contract with WWE expired.

WWE is claiming to be the rightful owner of the "Captain Charisma" mark, and that Christian's attempts to trademark it will cause "confusion in the marketplace" and that WWE will suffer damages if he is allowed to trademark it.

According to a document mailed out on August 10th, Christian has forty days from that date to respond to WWE's opposition of his attempting to trademark the name.