WWE Summer Cleaning 2021

[BigCrippyZ]

Originally Posted by Triple A idk if it's true but there were rumors that Keith Lee got "heat" with WWE because he was battling them over the trademark of his real name also

It's incredibly difficult to trademark a legal name for a person that has any kind of past activities doing something similar. This is because federal (and individual state) trademark protections apply only to using the trademarked name with each particular set of goods or services, (i.e., athletic performances, theatrical performances, clothing/apparel, film/tv appearances, etc.) If a wrestler is using their name in multiple, or one or more, states, for one or more goods or services, it's incredibly unlikely that a federal USPTO trademark application will be approved for those same goods/services, especially if they're no longer employed or affiliated with the applying entity, in this case WWE.

[Triple A]

Originally Posted by BigCrippyZ It's incredibly difficult to trademark a legal name for a person that has any kind of past activities doing something similar. This is because federal (and individual state) trademark protections apply only to using the trademarked name with each particular set of goods or services, (i.e., athletic performances, theatrical performances, clothing/apparel, film/tv appearances, etc.) If a wrestler is using their name in multiple, or one or more, states, for one or more goods or services, it's incredibly unlikely that a federal USPTO trademark application will be approved for those same goods/services, especially if they're no longer employed or affiliated with the applying entity, in this case WWE.

With Keith Lee, I heard they are trying to get him to give them written consent, but he won't do it and is trying to trademark his name on his own

[BigCrippyZ]

Originally Posted by Triple A With Keith Lee, I heard they are trying to get him to give them written consent, but he won't do it and is trying to trademark his name on his own

Yeah, without his written authorization, it's very unlikely they'd be able to successfully register the trademark of his own name with the USPTO for any of the classes of goods/services (clothing, merch, live entertainment performances, media appearances and performances, etc.) especially if he'd been using his own name prior in selling/marketing/performing for any of those same classes of goods/services.

[erickman]

Originally Posted by BigCrippyZ Yeah, without his written authorization, it's very unlikely they'd be able to successfully register the trademark of his own name with the USPTO for any of the classes of goods/services (clothing, merch, live entertainment performances, media appearances and performances, etc.) especially if he'd been using his own name prior in selling/marketing/performing for any of those same classes of goods/services.

ok why did the wwe not give him another name that was dumb of them in the begining.

[BigCrippyZ]

Originally Posted by erickman ok why did the wwe not give him another name that was dumb of them in the begining.

Probably assumed he'd agree to let them take over ownership of the trademark, at least while he's under contract with them. It's pretty common to assign that right over, during the term of an agreement at least, but it's not always the smart thing to do and if the talent has any leverage they should try to avoid doing so.

[xrodmuc316]

Originally Posted by erickman ok why did the wwe not give him another name that was dumb of them in the begining.

They had a pretty long timeframe when they let the wrestlers keep their names when they came in. I believe starting with Samoa Joe through around Keith Lee. Not sure if Keith Lee was the last one before they started randomly picking names for new signees again, but he was close to the end of that.

But a lot of people came in with names they already had established.