Walking Dead restaurant draws legal action from Kirkman
By Adam Carlson
The Walking Dead’s creator Robert Kirkman doesn’t like the attempt of a New Jersey restaurant to cash in on the name of his popular zombie franchise.
Building a franchise isn’t easy. Taking an idea and building it into a worldwide phenomenon is an extremely big challenge, but it is something that Robert Kirkman has been able to do with his hit comic book series The Walking Dead to turn it into a television show, video games, trading cards, action figures, and much, much more.
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Protecting that franchise can be tough as well. For example, restauranteurs Philip Theodorou, Steven Theodorou, Anna Theodorou and Mohamed Elkady have submitted plans for a Greek health food eatery in New Jersey called Walking Dead, which has caught Kirkman’s attention.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kirkman has pursued legal action, demanding that the restaurant choose a different name for their establishment. The restauranteurs have a bit of a history of attempting to trademark popular names and phrases and The Walking Dead could be their latest attempt to do so according to a briefing from Kirkman.
"“Specifically, combinations of the Theodorou defendants have filed several applications with the USPTO to register trademarks owned by or associated with well-known individuals and companies, including the hip hop artists the Beastie Boys (NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN, the name of their popular song), Donald Trump (MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN), United Trademark Holdings (ZOMBIE CINDERELLA), and the National Hockey League (BROOKLYN ISLANDERS).”"
The defendants in the case answered back with a great point. The Walking Dead was around well before Kirkman’s franchise made it big with the name, and his property may have also been capitalizing on a famous name.
"“[Kirkman] now seeks to intimidate and stop defendants from using the instant mark by initiating suit, alleging the defendants were profiting from a ‘famous’ name, yet the name was made famous by well-thought of authors writing about zombies, the walking dead, and the like for almost a century. Plaintiff never took into consideration the fact that what happened to Mr. Romero, could very easily happen to him.”"
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At this time, it isn’t known for sure that the defendants in this case are specifically attempting to cash in on the hard work that Robert Kirkman and everyone else have put into establishing The Walking Dead as one of the most recognizable franchises in the world, but there is little doubt that Kirkman will be doing everything he can in order to protect everything he has created.