Michael Landrum, a 49 year old retired boxer, is suing Mike Tyson for trademark infringement and is seeking $115,000,000 in damages. He is self-represented.
Landrum claims he coined the nickname "Iron Mike" before he turned pro in 1983. As a result, he claims he owns the trademark Iron Mike and owned it before Tyson started fighting professionally in 1985. He claims he wasn't able to get any major title fights or sponsorships because of the name confusion.
Landrum last boxed in 1985, and alleges that a 1996 letter from the California State Athletic Commission notes his professional ring name as "Iron Mike Landrum".
Landrum was 6-4 as a fighter. He's likely about to go 0-1 as a plaintiff.
The fact that Landrum hasn't complained for nearly 25 years, at law, makes this off the bat a very difficult case for the boxer. On top of that, he will need to show that Iron Mike functioned as a trademark, he owned it, and that the public was confused as to source. As well, if in fact Iron Mike was a trade-mark owned by Landrum (which may be tough to show), he would need to show that he didn't abandon it when he retired. If he did, he would likely have no claim to it.
The fact that Landrum hasn't complained for nearly 25 years, at law, makes this off the bat a very difficult case for the boxer. On top of that, he will need to show that Iron Mike functioned as a trademark, he owned it, and that the public was confused as to source. As well, if in fact Iron Mike was a trade-mark owned by Landrum (which may be tough to show), he would need to show that he didn't abandon it when he retired. If he did, he would likely have no claim to it.
2 comments:
I wonder what Canada's Greatest Athlete "Iron" Mike Sharpe thinks about all this.
Same as he thought about everything:
"Aaaarrrrrrgh"
:-)
[gotta be an old-time pro wrestling fan to really get that one.]
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