ABU has engaged a lawsuit of Tykables over their space themed Diaper

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MailCat581 said:
My personal opinion is that ABU is doing wrong by engaging Tykables in this matter. Tykables did not infringe on ABU's product because Tykables named their product "Space Cadets"; whereas ABU's is just "Space diapers". I don't see any copyright infringement at all here. But what I do see (and it doesn't take a lawyer or a judge to figure this one out) that this is a type of case that will further tarnish how the public sees ABDL (not that our community already has a bad reputation anyway because of the misconception that it involves kids but it doesn't).
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I have to disagree. Trademark disputes are exactly the kind of things we need judges, lawyers, and courts for. I don't know how this one will shake out but I'm interested to see. I also can't share your worry over this affecting how the public sees ABDLs. It's a legitimate business question of a sort that happens daily in courts all across the country. If this were somehow the tipping point, I'd find it more of a cosmic joke than anything.
 
Trevor said:
I don't know how this one will shake out but I'm interested to see.
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During a hearing where all parties were present in Federal court today, Judge Lefkow granted Strom Holdings a Temporary Restraining Order today enjoining and restraining Tykables from using the mark SPACE. More details here and here. There will be a permanent injunction hearing on March 13th assuming a settlement is not reached before then.

-Casey Strom, CEO, ABU
 
klo555 said:
During a hearing where all parties were present in Federal court today, Judge Lefkow granted Strom Holdings a Temporary Restraining Order today enjoining and restraining Tykables from using the mark SPACE. More details here and here. There will be a permanent injunction hearing on March 13th assuming a settlement is not reached before then.

-Casey Strom, CEO, ABU
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Whoever that 3L is that's reporting, he's doing a bang up job. If he ever wants to contact me for discussion of his legal career, feel free to point him my way. But, since I'm reading his stuff, one correction is that the evidence about the negotiations is admissible in this case. See rule 408 of the federal rules of evidence. You can't use the settlement negotiations to make people look bad for the money they might have paid, but you totally can use them when arguing about delays or what the judge should do next in the trial.
 
It would appear that the restraining order has been implemented by Tykables. The diapers are now referred to simply as "Cadet Diapers" on their website.
 
Cottontail said:
It would appear that the restraining order has been implemented by Tykables. The diapers are now referred to simply as "Cadet Diapers" on their website.
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Can you confirm or deny any negotiations for the rights to the name "Asstronaut"?
 
Trevor said:
Can you confirm or deny any negotiations for the rights to the name "Asstronaut"?
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I shall neither confirm nor deny.
 
Maux said:
As an aside, the "Snuggies" name was not gotten rid of because it sounded too close to "Huggies", it's because there's literally another product by the name of Snuggies.
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Actually that lawsuit came from Kimberly Clark on account that Snuggies sounded too close to Huggies. The blanket company wouldn’t have been able to sue The diaper company over the name because they are a different product segment.


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Cottontail said:
It would appear that the restraining order has been implemented by Tykables. The diapers are now referred to simply as "Cadet Diapers" on their website.
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That's what they should have done in the first place.

Things will get a little sticky if they have a shipping container halfway here from China with 50,000 diapers packed in bags branded "Space Cadet". If that's the case, depending on the agreements struck, they may have to repackage them. But that's the price for not thinking about what you're doing.

- - - Updated - - -

Bokeh said:
Actually that lawsuit came from Kimberly Clark on account that Snuggies sounded too close to Huggies.
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yepyep. Someone posted a link last year to the legal brief that KC filed against them. You might find it if you search old threads.
 
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bambinod said:
That's what they should have done in the first place.
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Well, not really. "Cadet" only sounds reasonable now because of where this all started, but by itself, "cadet" usually refers to a military trainee. I'm not sure "military" or "trainee" are great themes for diapers. Maybe they could make training pants featuring anthro toddler animals in camo onesies shooting cork-guns at each other. Then the name might make sense.
 
Cottontail said:
Well, not really. "Cadet" only sounds reasonable now because of where this all started, but by itself, "cadet" usually refers to a military trainee. I'm not sure "military" or "trainee" are great themes for diapers. Maybe they could make training pants featuring anthro toddler animals in camo onesies shooting cork-guns at each other. Then the name might make sense.
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You have point there. Sad to see them lose this one but a revamp of the name as a whole is now relevant.
 
Cottontail said:
Well, not really. "Cadet" only sounds reasonable now because of where this all started, but by itself, "cadet" usually refers to a military trainee. I'm not sure "military" or "trainee" are great themes for diapers. Maybe they could make training pants featuring anthro toddler animals in camo onesies shooting cork-guns at each other. Then the name might make sense.
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They have to put a sticker over the "Space" part anyway, I don't see why they wouldn't use another word to bridge the gap. "Cosmic Cadet" has alliteration. Once they sell out, they can re-brand to Asstronauts and all will be well.
 
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Update:
I wanted to just quickly update everyone that we have mutually agreed to settlement that protects the "Space" trademark while allowing Tykables to resticker existing inventory that they have. This was done out of court, and I am personally very thankful that we did not need to go any further on this.

I personally apologize for all of drama this has stirred up in the community, and I am extremely delighted that this issue should never enter a courtroom again between the two parties.

-Casey Strom, CEO

Strom Holdings LLC
(ABUniverse)
 
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klo555 said:
Update:
I wanted to just quickly update everyone that we have mutually agreed to settlement that protects the "Space" trademark while allowing Tykables to resticker existing inventory that they have. This was done out of court, and I am personally very thankful that we did not need to go any further on this.

I personally apologize for all of drama this has stirred up in the community, and I am extremely delighted that this issue should never enter a courtroom again between the two parties.

-Casey Strom, CEO

Strom Holdings LLC
(ABUniverse)
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That's good to hear, but what about NASA suing Wellness, and Wellness suing ABU?

Who exactly holds the copyrights on diapers and space anyways?
 
This is trademark law, and NASA wouldn't sue wellness over this for a multitude of reasons. Wellness never used "Space" as a mark, just in a description. Anyone can say their adult diapers feature a space themed print, but they cannot name the product "Space". "Diaper(s)" is too generic of a word to be trademarked.
 
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klo555 said:
This is trademark law, and NASA wouldn't sue wellness over this for a multitude of reasons. Wellness never used "Space" as a mark, just in a description. Anyone can say their adult diapers feature a space themed print, but they cannot name the product "Space". "Diaper(s)" is too generic of a word to be trademarked.
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I notice that on your Space and Simple diapers, you don't have the word "Diapers" on the package like you do the Lavenders, SDK's, and other products. Is there a specific reason for this? Could it be possible that some members of the medical community use them, so they don't want them labeled as such?

Also: I would very much like to see your inventory issues worked out soon, so a consistent supply can be made available. Can you fill us in on what is going on, and how the situation can eventually be remedied? Thanks for your help.
 
klo555 said:
This is trademark law, and NASA wouldn't sue wellness over this for a multitude of reasons.
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All works of the US Government are automatically in the public domain iirc. (you see this pointed out often if you are a frequent user of Wikipedia) Government exists to benefit the people, so any value they create naturally belongs to the people.

Private groups are free to take advantage of government research, but won't be able to claim patents due to prior art. (velcro is a famous example - "velcro" is a trademark, but "hook-and-loop fastener" is the generic term for the unpatentable technology that was marketed under its name)
 
klo555 said:
"Diaper(s)" is too generic of a word to be trademarked.
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If only "Space" were too.
 
goten said:
If only "Space" were too.
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By itself it is. As has been discussed, "space" in the context of the product of adult diapers IS protected however.

"Saturn" is a planet, and by itself is not protected. Now try to make a car and name it the Saturn. Toyoda will be all over you like white on rice. Selling a Saturn lollypop doesn't create and abuse brand confusion. Trying to sell your own Saturn car DOES.

This isn't about "space". This is about "space diapers"
 
goten said:
If only "Space" were too.
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It is.

Suggest you re read to understand what has happened here, as you are confused.
 
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