John Taddeo wins Valiant/Acclaim characters...

greg · Post by **greg** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:50:33 am

(new topic started, originally posted here)
(Tuesday 12:45pm Eastern)

John Taddeo just called... he is the winner.

He knew there would be a group of guys watching the board (on the edge of our seats),
so he stepped out for a minute to give me a call and to let you guys know
that he has won the bid.

There is still paperwork to be handled, and he had to get back in there
(no phones allowed in the proceedings), but he did want everyone to
know that he was the winner, and he will be posting more details here
(or on his website) when he has a chance.

elyhekrue · Post by **elyhekrue** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:53:00 am

greg wrote:(Tuesday 12:45pm Eastern)

John Taddeo just called... he is the winner.

He knew there would be a group of guys watching the board (on the edge of our seats),
so he stepped out for a minute to give me a call and to let you guys know
that he has won the bid.

There is still paperwork to be handled, and he had to get back in there
(no phones allowed in the proceedings), but he did want everyone to
know that he was the winner, and he will be posting more details here
(or on his website) when he has a chance.

Congratulations to John, and the rest of the Valiant universe!

Kyle

Todd Luck · Post by **Todd Luck** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:54:29 am

Holy @%^$!!!

Thanks Greg!

Now things get interesting...

cinlach@aol.com · Post by **cinlach@aol.com** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:55:21 am

just one more example of how much john taddeo cares about not only the characters but us the fans.

congrats john!

i feel really strongly that the characters (and by extension, us) will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity.

this is outstanding news...who has the champagne?!?!

pop the cork on that *SQUEE*!

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 11:56:45 am

VALIANT MARKS NOT PART OF ACCLAIM SALE?

justin · Post by **justin** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:02:47 pm

3 groups of Bidders were there. John Taddeo, a former valiant group and the last person not associated with valiants parent company!

-A

riftt · Post by **riftt** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:02:53 pm

^^^ hmm, the only loses there are bloodshot, eternal warrior, and harbinger

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:06:17 pm

riftt wrote:^^^ hmm, the only loses there are bloodshot, eternal warrior, and harbinger

Two of which are core books.

I believe this is similar to DC's Captain Marvel and Marvel's Captain Marvel.

Taddeo can do a comic with Gilad Anni-Padda but he can't call it Eternal Warrior, he has to call it something like "The Immortals" or something like that, just like DC can do a Captain Marvel comic but can't call it Captain Marvel.

greg · Post by **greg** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:09:37 pm

ManofTheAtom wrote:VALIANT MARKS NOT PART OF ACCLAIM SALE?

According to the details of the filing...
These trademarks have been "applied for"...
but they have not been approved.
In fact, they haven't even been assigned to a patent attorney yet.

In other words...
Nothing has happened to any of the trademarks,
except someone filed for them and paid their application fees.
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regs ... y=78598923

Anyone can file a trademark application for anything they want...
it's the official approval that matters (which takes months),
not the initial filing.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:12:18 pm

And do you still own the rights to the VALIANT star?

If so, will you let John use it? lol

greg wrote:
ManofTheAtom wrote:VALIANT MARKS NOT PART OF ACCLAIM SALE?
According to the details of the filing...
These trademarks have been "applied for"...
but they have not been approved.
In fact, they haven't even been assigned to a patent attorney yet.

In other words...
Nothing has happened to any of the trademarks,
except someone filed for them and paid their application fees.
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regs ... y=78598923

VIP LLC=The mysterious bidder???

Todd Luck · Post by **Todd Luck** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:14:58 pm

ManofTheAtom wrote:
riftt wrote:^^^ hmm, the only loses there are bloodshot, eternal warrior, and harbinger
Two of which are core books.

I believe this is similar to DC's Captain Marvel and Marvel's Captain Marvel.

Taddeo can do a comic with Gilad Anni-Padda but he can't call it Eternal Warrior, he has to call it something like "The Immortals" or something like that, just like DC can do a Captain Marvel comic but can't call it Captain Marvel.

I'ld wait and see what Taddeo posts before I got to worked up over this one guys. Manof theAtom hit it on the head, trademark refers to a brand name only (the title on the cover in this case). The actual characters/concepts have seperate rights (intellectual copyrights).

greg · Post by **greg** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:17:41 pm

ManofTheAtom wrote:And do you still own the rights to the VALIANT star?

I never owned the rights to the VALIANT star.
Neither did Joe Petrilak (if anyone thinks he did).

The rights to the VALIANT star were owned by Voyager Communications, Inc.,
and expired in 1999.

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:20:03 pm

This might be a good thing, btw.

Keeping the concepts but giving them new names would make things look fresh and reenergize the characters.

A more appropiate name would be The Eternal or The Warrior (that last one may be taken by the Ultimate Warrior who had a comic for a time, but if it's expired...).

Since Taddeo wants Shooter involved and Shooter created Gilad, he could come up with a new title for it.

Think of it as the complete opposite of VH 2, where the titles remained the same but the concepts and characters changed.

This would allow the concepts to remain the same while the name is different.

speedracex · Post by **speedracex** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:31:57 pm

congrates John, the wait is finally over

DawgPhan · Post by **DawgPhan** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:36:22 pm

Yes this should prove very interesting..

davidb · Post by **davidb** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:36:59 pm

First off, let me issue my congratulations to Mr. Taddeo. I'm sure he'll do the characters and us fans right.

As for the copyrights, I didn't realize that things hadn't gone any farther than they had, and I appreciate Greg clearing that up. Hopefully the strength of Mr. Taddeo's claim on these trademarks would sway the office to give them back to him.

That said, I would be interested in learning more about this Valiant Intellectual Properties. Apparently all that people know is that they're in Delaware. I did a little digging, and the phone number is an office for a Richard Beck in Wilmington who's not only an attorney, but also in the same practice as the Michael Lovitz listed on the application.

I'm curious about these other mystery bidders as well. Hopefully their identities will eventually come out (and if someone from VIPLLC was one of them).

David B.

Valiant OCD · Post by **Valiant OCD** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:37:03 pm

funny,... one big sigh of relief and now we hold our breath again to see if Mr. Taddeo can pull off a miracle. This is exhausting!.... maybe stamps or coins,.... a fish tank thats it,,....... maybe a Tai Chi.....

k_c_collectibles · Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:38:45 pm

So let me get this straight...

John Taddeo won the auction for the reprint rights and for the "bulk" of the Valiant / Acclaim character names. He does NOT have the full right to use the names: Valiant, Secret Weapons, Outcast, Rai and the Future Force, Deathmate, Quantum and Woody, Harbinger, Punx, Dr. Mirage, Eternal Warrior, Ninjak, Bloodshot, and The Visitor.

Of these Ninjak, Quantum and Woody and Bloodshot can be used by both John Taddeo's company and Valiant Intellectual Properties, LLC.

Who the hell is Valiant Intellectual Properties, LLC? Are they just a group trying to make John pay extra for the "rights" to use the names of characters to a Universe he just purchased? If so then this kinda reminds me of people who buy .com names and then "sell" them to the companies that would use them for a big profit.

I think that is a load of crap! :x He does have the right to the character's appearance in the books though, right? All he has to do is change the name of the comic books? It SUCKS that he does not have the right to the Valiant name, at least not yet.

Somwbody please let me know if what I am saying here is correct - I am just trying to make sense out of all this...

Chris

myron · Post by **myron** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:42:00 pm

k_c_collectibles wrote:So let me get this straight...

John Taddeo won the auction for the reprint rights and for the "bulk" of the Valiant / Acclaim character names. He does NOT have the full right to use the names: Valiant, Secret Weapons, Outcast, Rai and the Future Force, Deathmate, Quantum and Woody, Harbinger, Punx, Dr. Mirage, Eternal Warrior, Ninjak, Bloodshot, and The Visitor.

Of these Ninjak, Quantum and Woody and Bloodshot can be used by both John Taddeo's company and Valiant Intellectual Properties, LLC.

Who the hell is Valiant Intellectual Properties, LLC? Are they just a group trying to make John pay extra for the "rights" to use the names of characters to a Universe he just purchased? If so then this kinda reminds me of people who buy .com names and then "sell" them to the companies that would use them for a big profit.

I think that is a load of crap! :x He does have the right to the character's appearance in the books though, right? All he has to do is change the name of the comic books? It SUCKS that he does not have the right to the Valiant name, at least not yet.

Somwbody please let me know if what I am saying here is correct - I am just trying to make sense out of all this...

Chris

easy Chris...they APPLIED for the names...doesn't mean they have them or will even get them...

magnusr · Post by **magnusr** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:44:54 pm

k_c_collectibles wrote:Who the hell is Valiant Intellectual Properties, LLC?

Here I am just 100% guessing, but some analysis can be made. We know there were more bidders there. Anyone who is serious about picking up intellectual rights would make sure to cover all bases. This would seem like a logical step for bidders to take. As Greg said it is an application. A show of intent. I've never heard this name before, but instinctively it feels like they are one of the bidders doing their homework.

/Magnus

Redtrax · Post by **Redtrax** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:56:06 pm

Congrats to Taddeo and hopefully also to all Valiant fans.
Though I do take this as positive news, we'll just have to wait and see how much of John's plans will actually happen.
I hope a lot

Todd Luck · Post by **Todd Luck** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:56:13 pm

magnusr wrote:
k_c_collectibles wrote:Who the hell is Valiant Intellectual Properties, LLC?
Here I am just 100% guessing, but some analysis can be made. We know there were more bidders there. Anyone who is serious about picking up intellectual rights would make sure to cover all bases. This would seem like a logical step for bidders to take. As Greg said it is an application. A show of intent. I've never heard this name before, but instinctively it feels like they are one of the bidders doing their homework.

/Magnus

That would be my guess, especially since they were only "formed" last month according to the article.

k_c_collectibles · Post by **k_c_collectibles** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 1:04:54 pm

myron wrote:easy Chris...they APPLIED for the names...doesn't mean they have them or will even get them...

As long as they are just "applied for" This is a section of the article on Newsarama:

In checking on the status of the trademarks of the former Valiant characters, Newsarama learned that 12 of them, as well as the term “Valiant” have been acquired by Valiant Intellectual Properties, LLC, a Delaware-based corporation. Trademarks now owned by Valiant Intellectual Properties include: Secret Weapons, Outcast, Rai and the Future Force, Deathmate, Quantum and Woody, Harbinger, Punx, Dr. Mirage, Eternal Warrior, Ninjak, Bloodshot, and The Visitor.

Maybe they do not have all the facts straight, but last I knew acquired meant you had something. It does not say anything about applying for there.

Sorry about my rant - I am HAPPY AS HELL

that John won the auction. But then I read this article and my warm fuzzies started going away...

It is a GREAT day for the Valiant fans across the world!!!

speedracex · Post by **speedracex** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 1:05:01 pm

its like, you really messed up in life,and you get a 2nd chance, lol

ManofTheAtom · Post by **ManofTheAtom** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 1:07:23 pm

I wonder if I can submit my Timewalker ideas to John?

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John Taddeo wins Valiant/Acclaim characters...

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