Trademark provisions in character license agreements.

Trademark Provisions in Character License Agreements

Characters' names and likenesses can serve as potent brand identifiers. The character likenesses are often protected by copyright laws, and if used consistently as source identifiers on goods or in connection with services, the character likenesses also may serve as trademarks. Similarly, the names of the characters might be used to indicate origin of the goods or services and thus constitute trademarks.

Defining Characters and Trademarks

The term "characters" may be defined as the likenesses of the characters which have appeared in the property prior to the date of execution of this agreement. (The "property" may mean a comic strip, television show, book or the like--wherever the characters first appeared). The term "trademarks" may be defined as the characters (to the extent used as trademarks), the title of the property, the names of the characters, and any combinations of the foregoing.

Trademark Registrations

Trademarks are typically …