Regarding the New England Anime Society, Inc. Lawsuit
Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 4:38 pm
As you may have heard, New England Anime Society, Inc., Anime Boston's parent corporation, is engaging in a lawsuit against Fantastic Gatherings, Inc. and Interactive Meet and Greet Entertainment LLC., the organizers of the "Boston Anime Fest" convention.
NEAS is always enthusiastic about other organizations that support and promote the celebration of Japanese pop-culture. Convention organizers are part of a tight-knit group and when one does well we all benefit. We hope that Fantastic Gatherings and IMAGE have a very successful event, but we think they should do so using their own trademark and not one that is confusingly similar to our mark and brand.
NEAS has put a lot of hard work and energy into building its own goodwill as the sole user of its distinctive brand and mark over the past 16 years. The Anime Boston mark has become synonymous with our events and it has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. We do not want consumers and anime enthusiasts to be mistaken by another group's use of a confusingly similar mark. That is what this case is about.
All we have asked is for Fantastic Gatherings and IMAGE to change their event's name to something not so similar to our own mark. After denying our request twice, they have left us with no choice but to go to court to defend our mark and brand.
NEAS is always enthusiastic about other organizations that support and promote the celebration of Japanese pop-culture. Convention organizers are part of a tight-knit group and when one does well we all benefit. We hope that Fantastic Gatherings and IMAGE have a very successful event, but we think they should do so using their own trademark and not one that is confusingly similar to our mark and brand.
NEAS has put a lot of hard work and energy into building its own goodwill as the sole user of its distinctive brand and mark over the past 16 years. The Anime Boston mark has become synonymous with our events and it has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. We do not want consumers and anime enthusiasts to be mistaken by another group's use of a confusingly similar mark. That is what this case is about.
All we have asked is for Fantastic Gatherings and IMAGE to change their event's name to something not so similar to our own mark. After denying our request twice, they have left us with no choice but to go to court to defend our mark and brand.