Eminem scored a huge win in his ongoing fight with Real Housewives of Potomac stars Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon, In Touch can exclusively report.
The rapper [real name: Marshall Mathers], 51, is fighting Gizelle, 53, and Robyn, 45, over their effort to trademark the name of their podcast, “Reasonably Shady.”
They asked for the permission to use Reasonably Shady to sell various products. Eminem quickly filed an opposition to the application.
He claimed he spent decades building up the Shady brand. The rapper owns the trademarks for Slim Shady, Shady and Shady Limited.
He said if Robyn and Gizelle were allowed to use the name, it would make it appear he had endorsed their project/product in some way.
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“[Robyn & Gizelle’s] mark Reasonably Shady, simply looks and sounds like Shady and suggests that it represents the services of Mathers,” Eminem’s team argued.
Eminem’s attorney added, “Reasonably Shady so resembles Opposer’s mark Slim Shady, Shady and the mark Shady Limited in terms of appearance, sound and commercial impression as to be likely, when applied to [Robyn & Gizelle’s] goods, to cause confusion and mistake and to deceive.”
Robyn and Gizelle denied Eminem’s claims that people would believe he had any association with their businesses. They asked the United States Patent and Trademark Office to force Eminem to sit for a deposition. Eminem argued he should not have to personally appear.
He said his longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg, had “far better understanding of the documents, marketing, and advertising than” him on the matter. “Rosenberg has worked with Mathers in connection with his career continuously since at least 1997 and well before his hit album ‘The Slim Shady LP’ was first released in 1999,” Eminem’s lawyer wrote.
Gizelle and Robyn disagreed.
They argued Eminem should appear along with Paul, given they both appeared for a deposition.
“An assertion of Mr. Mathers being too busy will not be enough to avoid having to sit for a deposition,” the reality stars’ lawyer said. “As [Robyn and Gizelle], both celebrities in their own right, have provided the courtesy of sitting for deposition for [Eminem], it is not overly burdensome for [Eminem] to extend the same courtesy for his obligation.”
Following an intense back and forth, The United States Patent and Trademark Office Board ruled Gizelle and Robyn can depose Eminem’s manager but not the rapper.
The board noted Eminem turned over 2,500 pages of requested documents to the reality stars. The order said Robyn and Gizelle “have sufficiently demonstrated the need to take the deposition of a witness in order to respond to Opposer’s summary judgment motion.”
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The United States Patent and Trademark Office Board said Gizelle and Robyn failed to “demonstrate that” Eminem’s “deposition, rather that (or in addition to) Mr. Rosenberg’s deposition, is needed to respond to the summary judgment motion, particularly given Mr. Rosenberg, not [Eminem], provided the declaration supporting the motion.”
Gizelle and Robyn will have 30 days to “notice, take and complete” Paul’s deposition. The case is ongoing.
