This is another post about a trademark of a single word. This one was from the United Kingdom and it’s insensible. The uses on the application include nearly everything and the kitchen sink.
Honestly, I’m not sure the list includes kitchen sinks because I have too much to do than figure out whether or not household fixtures are included… but it’s possible. Seriously, take a look at the goods and services the “REBELLION” applicant is claiming for their brand.I’m going to quote a tiny section. Note that the part I’ve bolded doesn’t only interfere the most with the printed publishing industry… it also appears in the list three (3) times for no apparent reason. Scrolling through the list feels like looking at a secret code.
downloadable electronic publications in the nature of magazines, journals, novels, books, comics in the field of in the field of action, adventure, animation, biography, comedy, comics, computer games, crime, documentary, drama, family, fantasy, films, film-noir, games, history, horror, music, musical, mystery, romance, science-fiction, sport, thriller, war and western; downloadable computer games software; downloadable movies; downloadable publications in the nature of magazines, journals, novels, books, comics in the field of in the field of action, adventure, animation, biography, comedy, comics, computer games, crime, documentary, drama, family, fantasy, films, film-noir, games, history, horror, music, musical, mystery, romance, science-fiction, sport, thriller, war and western; downloadable software
What is this company intending to do?
Turns out, the applicant isn’t a company. The owner listed on the application for “REBELLION” is an individual by the name of Christopher Kingsley.
Who still has WTFs left? I’m running out.
The Rebellion Applicant
Kingsley does appear to represent a company, one in the United Kingdom. It’s called Rebellion Developments Limited. (I’m linking to Wikipedia to avoid sending traffic to the company site.)
Chris Kingsley and his brother, Jason, supposedly developed and purchased a fun list of speculative fiction games. They’re also running the science fiction and fantasy book publishing companies Abaddon and Solaris.
Cool. I want to dive into title lists and book query policies.
What’s holding me back is questions about their intentions. What’s the deal with their trademark?
Let’s back up and look at the trademark application more, okay?
The trademark on file is a standard character mark, which means it’s just the word, not the word in any particular font or style. That’s strange, because the company uses a particular image for branding, like most do.
They claim to own “REBELLION” for uses under International Class (IC) 009, for “Electrical and Scientific Apparatus”. What I’ve bolded in the quote above is under IC 009. The USPTO provides a long list of acceptable IC 009 goods and services, which does include publications.
But… this still looks to me as if they could tell other publishers to cease using “rebellion” in media, which is all sorts of wrong.
The application was filed a year ago. USPTO published the application for opposition last month, which is why Kevin Kneupper picked it up.
Wow – this is a real thing. A trademark application on “Rebellion” now before the @uspto that covers all forms of entertainment including books video games etc. Just published for opposition and in the danger zone. But not issued yet! https://t.co/v1eZSPsSoT
— Kevin Kneupper (@kneupperwriter) May 10, 2018
Shadow Fals 
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