Trademark system doesn't always work

Dude, that's a blessing for you. Take on the suit, and hire a PR person. That should get you a nice bit of press.

Tough situation unless you can find a recent graduate of the bar licensed for Federal. They might take it on for the experience.

I have repped myself in every court from the State Appellate Court to Small Claims . . . but when I had a Federal matter I got counsel.

what good is it? they plan to take it all the way according to my attorney. i obviously don't have the deep pockets they have. i've talked to several attorneys and they've all said the same thing basically.

what bothers me most is that i have a submission to the federal trademark office showing i used MY logo in june and they didn't register theirs until august! but all the attorneys will say they started using it before they registered it.

if anyone knows any good PR firms interested or attorneys, by all means...share...please. not just for me. but for the fact that big business shouldn't just roll over small business like this. lest we forget, i did nothing illegal and am ever FEDERALLY trademarked by the same folks who allowed them a trademark!

any domain with the word Hollywood in it will eventually get sued.

The city of Hollywood is the most famous advertising city in the world. Hollywood releases full length movies that are all ad placements. From what Ive read in advertising and marketing books, Hollywood is one of the most valuable "city brands" out there. For some reason though, Planet Hollywood gets to use it and will definitely contact all those who offend them.

true...but they don't own the word planet, and certainly not hottiewood.- but they feel they can just demand i give them 'Planet hottiewood" becasue they asked?? nay, demanded! it's not like i didn't have i trademarked legally. they had their opportunity to oppose it, legally, and fell asleep behind the wheel...now they want to just demand i give them everything....they can kiss my ass...come and get it. ! :-)

i suppose i can fight it, but like i said, they have a 'few' more bucks than i might have. and they plan to take it all the way.

I hope you beat those thieving crooks.

Just out of curiosity, what were you thinking when you decided to run with the name 'Planet Hottiewood? I mean besides trying to capitalize off of the 'Planet Hollywood' brand.

Did you think you were being original? I don't care either way, but the only reason that 'Planet Hottiewood' is catchy or relevant is because of the established Planet Holleywood brand.

^ What he said.

I figure they don't want anyone to think you are associated with them either. Even I'd wonder about that name if it was associated with them.

Why not just change your business name? Sounds like you'd better hurry to save yourself lots of hassle.

already changed the name. changed it to hottiewood models.

the point was that i registered the name planet hottiewood and it was approved from the trademark office. they found ZERO conflict in name according to their scrutiny. hence, the trademark system doesn't always work.

i have several 'hottiewood' sites and branding options. including, 'hottiewood planet'

what's interesting is that they don't have so much a problem with the 'name' per se, but the fact that my original logo registered in june conflicts with their logo registered two months later. when i designed my logo, i had NO idea they were changing, nor did i even SEE their logo...obviously..

I agree with the first comment. Hire a PR person.

Why don't you counter-sue.

in theory, that's a GREAT idea, no doubt...but in the meantime, they are going to sue in civil court. legally, i did nothing wrong. the courts/trademark office, saw no conflict in the trademark of the name. for those who have never trademarked anything, it's a process 15 months in the making. LOTS of scrutiny. so, if they saw no conflict, apparently hollywood does...and since they know they have far deeper pockets than i, they are just going to tie this whole thing up in court.
realize, they pay their attorneys whether they are sitting with their thumbs in their asses or actually working...so why not make them work?

if anyone does know a good PR person in the meantime, i'd be happy to hear what they can do in the while this is all settled...or any attorneys willing to take this on a contingency...hollywood is more than welcome to 'buy' my trademark...but i don't think i'll easily just lay down and 'give' it to them for the asking....

Do your best man

doing what i can, but sadly...the legal system sometimes favors the guys with the deeper pockets!

what should i counter sue for? not sure what i can do?

I hope you're able to give them hell, man.

fuck them they just want it.It would be interesting if you started to push back a little. What they will do.

Pick off a settlement.

are they upset with you for the name or the logo, the two things could be very different issues, especially if planet hollywood

1. created an new logo before you registered yours
2. you registered a logo that looks like their new logo
3. and they finally got around to registering their logo

if the trademark office in the US is like it's canadian equivalent it only looks up the registered trademarks.

Harassment? Attempted theft of your trademark maybe?

Or if you registered your similar logo before them and that's what they are bothered about counter sue them for copyright infringement. I don't know what the laws are where you are from but If you end up going to court try and see if you can get your attorney to have the other side pay all legal costs if they lose .

You think the legal system works in the US? Its the most corrupt country in the world yet you fail to see that.

I don't know how long you have been using that name, but Planet Hollywood has been around since 1991. I have a feeling you weren't using it then. If you ask me, you were trying to make money off their name. Why should they allow that?

You are right but in the same time wrong.
He has papers that he owns the trademark for the name, once you send in the papers they do a checkup on the name that it doesnt tresspass on someone´s else trademark. And because he has TM on the name, then everything should be okay.

well what I would do ;)

Call the local Law School or law society. look for somebody for free that is looking to make a name for themselves. Also find somebody to help you with marketing your plight, there is always somebody who will if you do a good job at getting attention, like media and what not.

2. Counter sue for a very large amount $100 million, get the attorney to fire back and let it be clearly known that he is doing it for free and has unlimitied time and is looking to make a name for himself.

3. Create a press package and get somebody to help you get in contact with numerous media,(internet, radio, tv, paper, magazine)

4. Start sending them out, don't worry about court or time as you will never go to court. Push this as long as posible.


What will happen is the Planet Hollywood lawyers will start billing Planet Hollywood from Day 1...after about 3-4 months ie the first quarter of reporting. The CFO and the CEO of the company will have to look at all outstanding liabilities against the corporation and have to report them to stock and or share holders. Your 100 million dollar law suit coupled with the lawyers billing actual monies and at this point after 3-4 months they will have billed $100k + will have a huge liability. corporations hate liability. they will look to resolve this very quickly.

The closer this case gets to court and the louder you are the bigger the risk is to the company. remember they do have the money but the way a corporation looks at it is that they have a lot of money to loose. If they were to loose such a case, just as an example, it could mean the firing or the Ceo or CFO. They will never take that chance.

In about 5 months you could end up with a sizable chunk of change.

In life sometimes you just have to say what the fuck and do it ;)
I hope you have the balls!