The United States Patent and Trademark Office have given an initial refusal on all four Broken Universe related trademarks that TNA Entertainment, now operating under Global Force Wrestling, had filed for registration.
The primary reason given for the refusal on the Broken Matt trademark from The United States Patent and Trademark Office was likely confusion with Matt Hardy’s own filing for a Broken Matt Hardy trademark, which he filed first, meaning that TNA Entertainment (now Global Force Wrestling) will have to provide valid arguments to show that there is no potential conflict between the two and once that argument is filed, action on the application will be suspended, pending the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s decision on Matt Hardy’s application which would take precedence as he filed first. This also means that Global Force Wrestling would need to indicate whether Broken Matt identifies a living person and if it does, then they would need Matt Hardy’s consent, however given the estranged relationship between both parties, that would place all involved in an interesting situation.
In terms of the Brother Nero trademark, that was refused because Global Force Wrestling need to indicate whether it identifies a living person and if it does, much like the above, they would need Jeff Hardy’s consent as Nero is the legitimate middle name of Jeff Hardy. The Broken Brilliance trademark was refused by the United States Patent and Trademark Office as Global Force Wrestling must specify whether Broken Brilliance has any significance in the professional wrestling industry, or whether it is just a term of art in the professional wrestling industry. Finally, the trademark for Vanguard-1 was refused due to likely confusion with a non-wrestling related trademark, with no further information given.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office noted that all four trademarks were refused because it was ruled that the wordings used for identification and classification of goods and services in the initial filing were too broad and needed additional clarification.
