Nickelodeon Is Opposing A 12 Year Old New Zealand Girl's 'Slime' Trademark For Some Reason

Trademark

from the you-can't-do-that-in-new-zealand dept

Viacom has decided to take its trademark bullying game international and possibly against the most sympathetic target it could find. Nickelodeon, owned by Viacom, has decided to oppose the trademark registration of a 12 year old girl in New Zealand, claiming its trademark on the word “slime” is too important. Katharina Weischede has managed to build up an online brand in New Zealand for producing and playing with “slime.” She made a business out of it and attempted to trademark “slime princess”, only to find Nickelodeon opposing it.

What started off as a hobby had by late 2017 become a home-based business called “Slime Princess”. Now known by her friends, family and even strangers as the “Slime Princess”, she eventually decided to trademark her business’s name. However, Katharina was met with opposition by Viacom, the owners of children’s entertainment channel Nickelodeon. After applying to trademark “Slime Princess” earlier this year, Katharina received a letter from Viacom opposing the trademark. According to the New Zealand Intellectual Property office, Viacom has trademarked the word “slime”.

Everything about this is absurd. We can start with how unlikely it would be for any confusion to exist between Weishede and Nickelodeon, move on to the very generic and broad mark that Viacom apparently holds in New Zealand, take a turn to point out that Weishede’s business has something like $20k in valuation, and finish off by simply pointing out the PR nightmare that is the parent company of a kids’ network battling a 12 year old at the trademark office.

The good news is that Weishede appears to be a very bright young woman.

Aside from running her business, Katharina is interested in becoming a human rights lawyer.

This case was “a great start to show people that you fight for what you believe in”, she said. “I wanted to fight because I made this and it’s not just about the slime. It’s the brand itself. People don’t only come for the slime, they go and see me.”

She has set up a page to collect money for the legal fees to fight this. Her family is also backing her and she is working with a lawyer, who is hinting at the fact that Viacom certainly didn’t have to go the route of fighting a trademark battle with a 12 year old.

Katharina’s lawyer, Alex Lee, said the 12-year-old had worked very hard to build up her profile and her brand.

“This is a young girl’s dream,” he said. “If in fact the other party wanted to find a way to work with her that’s great but certainly, we wouldn’t want to think the idea is to prevent a young teenager who already has a profile with a particular brand from being denied her rights.”

And finding a way to work with her is exactly what Viacom should be doing here, or it risks tarnishing the reputation Nickelodeon has worldwide over the “threat” of a bright 12 year old young woman. Best of luck winning that PR battle.

Filed Under: katharina weischede, new zealand, slime, trademark, trademark bullying
Companies: nickelodeon, viacom