Isaiah Colbert, writing in Gizmodo, has the story about Marvel and DC losing their joint trademark for “super hero.”

According to Reuters, the US Trademark Office canceled several of Marvel and DC Comics’ set of “Super Hero” trademarks in an order on September 26 at the request of Superbabies comic book artist R.J. Richold. The resulting trademark loss on Marvel and DC Comics’ part came after Disney and Warner Bros. representatives didn’t file a response to Richold. This makes matters all the sillier when you consider that DC Comics accused Richold of infringing on the Super Hero trademark with his series, which, as the name suggests, is about a bunch of super-powered babies, and threatened legal action. While DC and Marvel have yet to comment on the ruling, Richold’s attorney, Adam Adler, has. His reply? The verdict was “a victory for creativity and innovation” for everyone, not just his client.

The fact that Marvel and DC had the trademark on such a generic term was pretty ridiculous. I also think DC’s use of “metahuman” and Marvel’s use of “mutant” are the stronger marks anyway.