AEW trademarks Continue to be Declined

Feb 25, 2019 - by James Walsh

More of AEW’s trademark applications were denied by the US Patent & Trademark Offices, according to a new report. Wrestling Inc reports that the USPTO issued initial refusals for terms including “Double or Nothing,” “Tuesday Night Dynamite” and “Fight For the Fallen” on February 19th.

These refusals were issued at the same time as the initial refusals of applications for “All Elite Wrestling,” “Change the Universe,” “AEW,” “AEW All Out” and the All Elite Wrestling logo. AEW applied to trademark all Double Or Nothing, Tuesday Night Dynamite, and Fight For the Fallen on November 5, 2018, the same time the company applied for most of its other trademarks.

The reason for Tuesday Night Dynamite and Fight For The Fallen’s initial refusals come from the requirement that they must disclaim wording in the phrases. Specifically, the USPTO noted that “Tuesday Night” is not inherently distinctive and is simply a night of the week, while Fight For the Fallen requires a disclaimer for all the words because “the term ‘FIGHT FOR THE FALLEN’ is commonly used as a promotional phrase to indicate that a fighting event will occur for fundraising purposes to support fallen heroes…Because consumers are accustomed to seeing this term commonly used by many businesses to impart information to consumers, they will perceive this slogan only as informational matter rather than as a trademark or service mark that identifies the source of applicant’s goods and/or services.”

As for AEW Double or Nothing, the application was initially refused due to the likelihood of confusion, as the USPTO noted that there are seventy-five existing trademarks that suggest this one may be too confusing for consumers. While there are variations (e.g., “AEW Double Or Nothing” vs. music company “Double Or Nothing Enterprises, LLC”), the refusal notes that “marks must be compared in their entireties, the word portion is often considered the dominant feature and is accorded greater weight in determining whether marks are confusingly similar.” As AEW mentioned “music” and “ringtones” amongst its goods and services for the trademark, it would be “closely related” to Double Or Nothing Enterprises. It is likely that removing those goods and services from its list, as well as handling the previously-reported fees for the number of international classes and some clarification of some other goods and services, will fix these issues.

Leave a Reply