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18 June 2019Trademarks

Steph Curry’s ‘Holey Moley’ series at centre of TM dispute

US basketball player Stephen Curry’s upcoming televised golf competition series, “Holey Moley”, infringes a trademark owned by an Australian mini golf venue, according to a complaint.

In the lawsuit, filed on June 13 at the US District for the Central District of California, entertainment company Funlab said it owns a trademark registration for ‘ Holey Moley’ which it uses in connection with its mini golf venues where mini golf competitions are held.

Funlab, which currently has mini golf venues in Australia but plans to open more in the US soon, said the television show will cause “confusion, deception and mistake among consumers”.

It claimed that earlier this year, Eureka Productions, the company which will be co-producing Curry’s show, filed a trademark application seeking to register “the exact same words in the exact same classes”.

A second company, Unanimous Media, will be producing the show and was also named as a defendant in the suit.

On January 14, the US Patent and Trademark Office ( USPTO) issued an action stating that Eureka’s application would be denied on the basis of likelihood of confusion.

According to the complaint, the USPTO said its “overriding concern is not only to prevent buyer confusion as to the source of the goods and services, but to protect the registrant from adverse commercial impact due to use of a similar mark by a newcomer”.

Funlab said that despite this action from the USPTO, Eureka made an announcement on April 3, stating that it will be releasing its “Holey Moley” television series on June 20.

The series will be hosted by Curry and will include guest appearances by other celebrities.

Additionally, Funlab said it contacted Eureka’s legal counsel on April 5, informing the company that the use of ‘Holey Moley’ would constitute infringement.

But, it said Eureka and Unanimous “refused to take appropriate steps to address the significant harm that their conduct will cause to Funlab”.

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