Writers and other creative folks will want to keep an eye on a trademark controversy that exploded recently.
Romance author Feelina Hopkins has trademarked the word “cocky” and is telling other romance writers who have that word in the titles of their books to change their titles – even if those titles predate her own. Needless to say, this has caused an uproar in the romance world, and it’s going to be a cautionary tale for everyone else no matter how it shakes out.
Romance author and retired attorney Kevin Kneupper (Twitter) has filed a challenge (Dropbox) to Hopkins’ trademark with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He says it could take up to 18 months for the issue to be settled.
I thought it wasn’t even possible to trademark titles. Maybe that’s just copyrighting.
Anyway, she must simply misunderstand the process, surely, the way children do.
Or maybe I misunderstand it.
There’s a lot I don’t know about trademarking, but a title can be trademarked if it describes a series, e.g. “Star Trek” or “Harry Potter.” The article also describes a kind of trademark called a word mark, in which a word is trademarked in a particular font or version of one.
You’re right that titles can’t be copyrighted, though.