“I never even knew that there was a guy named Shawn Michaels,” professed the other Sean. “In 1986, when I applied for the DBA (Doing Business As) for Sean Michaels Productions, nothing came back. They gave me my DBA and let me do my thing. Then I trademarked my name four years ago. So I’ve taken the precautions to protect myself.”
“It’s really shocking,” Anderson added. “Why did it take them 14 years to make a comment about it? He has credibility in adult entertainment, he’s very high class, a business professional, so there’s no reason to cease using his name and he has the material to back it up. Sean did his first scene, in Adam and Eve’s House Party, back in 1986. The wrestler has been using his name since 1988.”
“My name is trademarked and spelled differently,” Sean wondered, “so why wait over 14 years to say something? We trademarked my name four years ago. His name has never been trademarked. Not only did the World Wrestling Entertainment lose the WWF title to the World Wildlife Foundation because they never trademarked it, but the wrestler Shawn Michaels himself has been sued in similar litigation.”
After a little research, Michaels’ attorney made a startling revelation when he went to check the U.S. trademark patent office record. He discovered that the WWE never actually trademarked Shawn Michaels the wrestler. There had been two abandoned registrations however, both dated in 1997.
Allow me to set you guys straight on something you should already know. A trademark exists immediately on first commercial use. Period. Registering a trademark only does one thing, it allows you to pursue PUNITIVE Damages in the event of a trademark infringement. Trademark infringement is ILLEGAL whether the trademark is registered or not. If a trademark is not registered only ACTUAL damages may be litigated.
AVN is wrong in that Sean’s first commercial use of the name was in 1985 in a Western Visuals release as I stated.
Sean claims that he will not roll over here and I applaud him for that. This is little more than the WWE bullying Sean into spending money to protect his name. But…spend he will.
From the Anna Nicole Smith School:
Shyla Stylez was married to JKP company chairman/CEO, Bob Friedland, in October of 2002.
As of last week, the two have separated and Friedland is in the process filing an annulment of the marriage on the basis of fraud. Friedland has no comment and is not taking interview requests regarding the matter at this time, though the filing is public record.
And I suppose Bob thinks Shyla married him for his good looks and sexual prowess….
