The jury decided that the Comic Con mark is valid and that Salt Lake City used it in a way likely to cause confusion to customers. The case was heard in Federal District Court in San Diego over the past two weeks. The jury had been deliberating since Thursday morning, when both sides concluded their final arguments. Farr and Brandenburg protested that the term “comic con” was generic, and that CCI’s trademark applied only to “Comic-Con” (with a hyphen). Most fan festivals avoid the issue entirely by using different branding, as in Atlanta’s DragonCon or Charlotte’s Heroes Con.

Source: Forbes December 08, 2017 23:53 UTC