WWE News: GFW's initial attempts at "Broken" trademarks refused
What's the story?
According to PWInsider.com, the United States Patent and Trademarks Office have denied all four Broken Universe-related trademarks that GFW/TNA attempted to file.
In case you didn't know...
This has been an ongoing situation ever since GFW/TNA and Matt & Jeff Hardy were unable to come to contractual agreements when the tag team were still with the company. This, of course, resulted in the Hardy Boyz returning to the WWE at WrestleMania and becoming tag team champions.
Ever since leaving TNA/GFW, this has been a messy situation with both sides taking shots at the other in interviews and on social media. Many have been reporting that GFW's ownership of the gimmick wasn't even up for discussion and in order for it to be used on WWE TV, a deal would have to be struck with The Hardy's former employers. However, that may not be the case just yet.
The heart of the matter
You can see the correspondence sent to GFW lawyers below, complete with screenshots also sent from the USPO.
All four trademarks filed by GFW were refused for the following reasons:
The first trademark, "Broken Matt" was refused for a few reasons. One is that Matt Hardy had already a trademark filed for "Broken Matt Hardy" first. GFW would have to prove that there is no potential conflict between the two trademarks - which they would definitely not be able to do.
They also have to identify whether or not "Broken Matt" refers to a living person, and if it does they would need Matt's consent - another thing that would be impossible for them to accomplish.
The living person rule is in effect for the "Brother Nero" refusal as well because Nero is Jeff Hardy's given middle name. "Broken Brilliance" was refused because GFW needs to specify whether it has any significance in wrestling or if it's just a "term of art" in wrestling, and "Vanguard 1" was not given the green signal as it could have been confused with a non-wrestling-related trademark.
What's next?
As seen below, it did not take Matt's wife, Reby Hardy, very long to respond to this recent turn of events.
One of the most important pieces of information in all of this is that TNA/Anthem/GFW have 6 months to provide proper paperwork for the trademark. That means if negotiations between The Hardys and GFW are done as they say they are, this issue will not be resolved anytime soon.
They attempted to file trademarks for things that they clearly have no intention of using themselves and were just trying to claim them so no one else could. Apparently, that is much easier said than done.
Author's Take
As much as I would LOVE to see the Hardy Boys be "BROKEN" on WWE TV, it is getting harder and harder to believe that it will actually happen. With GFW having six months to respond to this refusal and negotiations between both parties appearing to be over, I am starting to think it may be wise for Matt and Jeff to consider other options.
With all this taking place regarding the ownership of the "Broken" gimmick, why not just call it something else? Both use the "twist of fate" - what about "TWISTED" Hardys? We have seen and heard their catchphrases and mannerisms already.
I'd love to see the Hardy's get the desired character changes we all want to see without having to wait for the ownership of a word to be decided. The nostalgia is starting to wear off and as great as The Hardys are, I would love to see a twist of fate. It would be truly DELIGHTFUL!
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