Marks petition leaves bear with sore head

News broke on 9 February that, in the latest round of a long-running dispute, the Stephen Slesinger film company has petitioned the USPTO to cancel Disney IP holdings related to children’s favourite, Winnie The Pooh.

The Slesinger firm grew out of a literary agency that, decades ago, licensed adaptation rights from Pooh’s original author, AA Milne. From 1930, Slesinger played a part in spreading the bear’s popularity, launching story records, radio spots and TV shows based on his adventures.

Provisions in Milne’s will dedicated character rights to his closest associates, including his family, in the mid-1950s. Slesinger’s wife, Shirley, had benefitted similarly following his death in 1953, and in 1961, she and Milne’s widow, Dorothy (aka Daphne), licensed rights to the entertainment giant, Disney. A flurry of animated films ensued, buoyed by a profusion of merchandise.

Disney has consistently defended a position of ownership based on the original licenses, but in 1991, the Slesinger production company challenged its rights. Lawsuits have flown between the two parties ever since.

Slesinger’s new petition asks the USPTO to cancel Disney’s Winnie The Pooh trademarks, preventing the company from capitalising on the brand. Slesinger states that its rival, ‘Was not the owner of the registered marks at the time that these filings were made,’ and was ‘at most only a licensee.’ On 2 February, Disney moved to block Slesinger’s action, which runs parallel to an ongoing civil suit dating back to 2002, arguing that it, ‘Raises the same issues and seeks effectively the same relief as the pending District Court action.’

According to Disney spokesman, Jonathan Friedland, Slesinger’s latest action, ‘Is by no means anything more than the “same old, same old.”’