Book Six Titles

[Jim Ferer]

No: HPFGUIDX 79018

Phlux:" Phlux:"On July 24th a company by the name of "Seabottom
Productions Limited" registered two trademarks by the names of "Harry
Potter and the Mudblood Revolt" and "Harry Potter and the Quest of the
Centaur". This company must be related to WB, since the HP trademark 
is now their property."

Me:" How would anybody think that this could possibly be true?  JKR and
Warner Brothers have all the rights to anything Harry Potter, period.
Nobody else can use that name or anything based on it for any
commercial purpose without WB's consent ($$$)."

I mentioned that Google searches on Seabottom Productions turned up
nothing and that a search of the *US* Patent and Trademark Office was
a blank.  I didn't think of the UK office.

It still makes no sense. No one has to register a prospective book
title ahead of time – JKR never did – and if some smart aleck tried it
in the hope of forcing JKR to pony up money for the name, it wouldn't
survive in court for a moment.

In the US, at least, having a registration is not a government
imprimatur that a name is yours – it can be challenged.  I still don't
get it; if Seabottom is an arm of WB, why the charade, and why
register the trademark in the UK but not the US?

Something isn't right. You're right, it's dodgy.

Jim Ferer