Can't Trust Anybody: Luka Doncic Is In A Legal Fight With His Own Mom Over Control Of His Trademark
[Source] - Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić on Tuesday filed a petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office seeking to cancel the registration of the trademark “LUKA DONCIC 7” that is currently owned by his mother, according to the legal firm Brown Rudnick representing Dončić.
While playing abroad in the EuroBasket championships and leading Slovenia to a win over hosts Germany, Dončić faced a Tuesday deadline with the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to file the petition. It is the latest step in the All-Star's months-long quest to regain full control of trademarks that bear his name — several of which are in the hands of his mother Mirjam Poterbin.
In November of his rookie season with the Mavericks in 2018-19, at age 19, Dončić gave Poterbin consent for the registration of his full name as a trademark. After numerous attempts to negotiate a transfer of control for that registration, according to his lawyers, Dončić provided written notice in July 2021 that he wished to revoke that consent. Dončić’s operating company Luka99 Inc., with whom all his brand partnerships hold agreements, functioned as the formal petitioner in Tuesday's filing.
But his initial attempts to register “LUKA DONCIC” as a trademark under his control were preliminarily refused by the USPTO because of the existing “LUKA DONCIC 7” trademark, which Poterbin has refused to relinquish and makes use of Dončić’s previous logo.
Woof man. I wanted to try and defend Mirjam Poterbin in some way here as a fellow parent but there's no way. You are fucking over your own kid. Your very good at basketball, very rich, can take care of you for life kid. I can't imagine doing that. Hell if either of my boys make any sort of move like this I'm dropping that trademark in a half second because I'd like to be part of the ride. Also, you know, being a decent human and all that. I don't care if I created the kid and named them, I'll give them their trademark. That's just me being an upstanding citizen though. Hall of Fame parent some may say.
Sidenote, being a parent is still weird man. I just had my second son and it still doesn't make sense. We just get these kids, spend a couple days in the hospital and then figure it out. Granted it's mostly moms doing the work, but we're here trying to figure out how to raise a damn human. The only instructional guide I had was Clem and the Podfathers:
That's not even just the newborn stage. You gotta figure out how to find a day care. How to handle them acting up. What happens if they become rich and famous and you have their trademark under your name. There's no book for that. We just have to guess on what the hell to do.
It's clear that this is Poterbin just being shitty. Tough offseason for Luka. He lost Jalen Brunson and got a little banged up playing for Slovenia. Maybe a EuroBasket win helps though. They did win the last one and they are 2nd betting favorites to win it again this year. We're entering the knockout stage and only Greece (+275) on the Barstool Sportsbook is ahead of Slovenia (+325). Slovenia is tied with Serbia at +325 which just goes to show you having one of the best basketball players in the world (Giannis, Luka, Jokic) might help.
Do the right think Mirjam. Give up the trademark so I don't feel as bad posting pictures in a blog.
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