San Diego Comic-Con Files Lawsuit Over Name; Says Utah Convention Will Confuse

San Diego Comic-Con has filed a lawsuit over the name of the Salt Lake Comic Con, which it says has been used in a way to falsely suggest that the event is associated with the San Diego convention. The lawsuit alleges that Salt Lake’s use of “Comic Con” for its event is trademark violation.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the San Diego Comic-Con sent a cease-and-desist letter last month, and this past week, the organizers of the Salt Lake Comic Con sent back a definitive “no,” after which the lawsuit over the name was filed.

However, the Salt Lake Comic Con intends to stick to its guns, saying that the name is used by similar conventions across the country, and according to a KUTV report, other organizations intend to band together and support Salt Lake in the matter.

If San Diego wins the lawsuit over the use of the name, it could be used as a precedent to prevent other comic book conventions across the country from using the name as well.

Aside from sharing a name, the events, of course, center around similar interests and attractions. They generally all have Q&A panels, like the Walking Dead one shown here at the San Diego event.

Unfortunately, that could potentially lend some credence to the lawsuit, as it may support the idea that it could be possible for patrons or customers to confuse the two (or more) events by their names.

However, the fact that there are already so many separate events using the name may serve as protection, since it may refute the idea that an event would be likely to be specifically confused with the San Diego convention of the same name.

It’s also relevant that, while the San Diego event is the biggest, others are large enough to be quite well known. Boston’s event this weekend included a cosplay parade.

New York’s Comic Con is described as the largest pop-culture event on the East Coast, and is known as the second-largest comic convention in the country. It’s coming up in October, but here’s a shot from last year’s event, which made Inquisitr headlines for the presence of a Bionic Man.

All of these large events, all by virtually the same name, with the exception of the dash and the city name, draw tens of thousands of visitors each year. If the lawsuit over the name is successful, then in short order, all (except the San Diego one) may find themselves re-branding with a new name.

[Image Credits: San Diego Comic-Con Twitter, Boston Comic Con Twitter, New York Comic Con Twitter, Salt Lake Comic Con Twitter]