DC Comics, owner of the SUPERMAN character and corresponding trademarks, may in fact have a lock on the term “kryptonite,” much to the consternation of Kryptonite Corp., makers of the famous bicycle lock.

A New York City judge refused to throw out the trademark infringement case DC filed against the bike lock company, noting that “Kryptonite is an element associated with Superman entertainment products and it is thus entitled to protection.”

The two companies have existed for over 20 years pursuant to a 1983 agreement that limited Kryptonite’s use of the mark for locks and cables. Now that the company is producing new products (clothing, tote bags), all tights are off.

This entry was posted by Tsan Abrahamson on Friday, September 24th, 2004 at 11:00 am and is filed under Trademarks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.