"Marilyn Monroe" patted you on the back: 300+ accounts sued, these words can no longer be used!

The halo of celebrity can certainly bring exposure and sales, but the potential risks are also great.

Last September, an anonymous case froze funds as soon as it was filed, catching a large number of sellers off guard. The infringing object, " Einstein ", caught the sellers by surprise! This is not an isolated case. Recently, another similar infringement case occurred...

At the end of February, The Sladkus Law Group filed case 21-cv-788 against more than 300 seller accounts for infringing on intellectual property rights related to the famous actress Marilyn Monroe .

Mentioning Marilyn Monroe, many people may immediately think of the word "sexy goddess". Marilyn Monroe was born in 1926. She was an American actress, model and singer. She died at the age of 36. To this day, she is still a symbol of beauty and charm.

(Photo source: Alfred Eisenstaedt/Pix Inc./LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Now that she is gone, who is defending her rights? It is reported that in 2010, The Estate of Marilyn Monroe, LLC acquired a controlling stake in Marilyn Monroe LLC and now owns all of Marilyn Monroe's intellectual property .

The rights protection in this case mainly involves word trademarks related to Marilyn Monroe, such as Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn and Diamonds are a girl's best friend , etc. The lawsuit does not mention the protection of character portraits, but sellers should still be cautious.

The editor searched for "Marilyn Monroe" on Amazon and found more than 6,000 relevant search results, and nearly 140,000 search results on eBay, covering a variety of products including masks, cups, T-shirts, blankets, lipsticks , etc.

This is the first time the company has filed a case, but with so many search results on various platforms, one can't help but guess that the company may continue to file cases to sue sellers in the future ...

The plaintiff's law firm, The Sladkus Law Group, has also had many confrontations with the seller. It is located in Georgia, USA, and has represented many brands such as Elvis Presley and Moncler. It is reported that during the settlement process, the law firm mainly referred to the frozen amount and product sales .

This is the basic introduction to the case. Sellers of related products should also take action as soon as possible. Those that should be removed from the shelves should be removed from the shelves, and those that should cash out should withdraw the cash. Sellers who have not been caught this time should not be complacent.

Based on the previous Albert Einstein rights protection case and the current Marilyn Monroe rights protection case, using the names and portraits of deceased celebrities in products may infringe copyright. Therefore, sellers should be more careful when listing products related to similar celebrities (such as Hepburn, Jackson, etc.), because one day another company may point the finger at cross-border sellers...

Infringement

Marilyn Monroe

trademark