Will the real Slim Shady please stand up? Eminem fights Real Housewives for trademark
Robyn Dixon and Gizelle Bryant may be Real Housewives — but they will never be the real Slim Shady, if Eminem has anything to say about it.
Rapper Marshall “Eminem” Mathers is on a legal mission to prove he’s the real Shady after “Real Housewives of Potomac” stars Dixon and Bryant attempted to trademark “Reasonably Shady” — the title of their hit podcast — last year. An attorney for Dixon and Bryant told The Times on Tuesday that the reality-TV duo intend “to defend their trademark application” despite the “Real Slim Shady” artist’s motion to block it.
A court filing submitted Tuesday to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states that Mathers “believes he will be damaged by the issuance of a registration for the mark REASONABLY SHADY” because it “resembles” Eminem’s longtime nicknames, Shady and Slim Shady.
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Attorneys for the musician argue that “the mark proposed for registration by applicants, REASONABLY SHADY, is likely to cause confusion, mistake or to deceive ... by causing the consuming public to believe, contrary to fact, that Applicant’s goods and services in association with the mark REASONABLY SHADY are sponsored, licensed and/or otherwise approved by, or are in some way connected or affiliated with” Mathers.
But Dixon and Bryant — who are seeking to sell clothes, mugs, water bottles, makeup and other merchandise bearing the name of their podcast — maintain that “the trademarks are not confusingly similar and the services are not related,” per their attorney, Andrea Evans.
In Tuesday’s filing, Team Mathers points out that Eminem has long used the marks Shady, Slim Shady and Shady Limited to peddle merchandise such as T-shirts and baseball caps.
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“The marks SLIM SHADY, SHADY and SHADY LIMITED have become unique and are identified by the general public solely with [Mathers] and his goods and services,” the filing states.
“The marks SLIM SHADY, SHADY and SHADY LIMITED have become and are an extremely valuable symbol of Mathers, his reputation and goodwill.”
Times news researcher Jennifer Arcand contributed to this report.
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