Superbabies Limited, a company that produces comic books about super babies, successfully challenged the right of Marvel and DC to jointly own the «Super Hero» trademark.
Previously, DC tried to block the promotion of «The Super Babies» because of the use of the «Super Hero» trademark, according to a quote from a legal representative of Superbabies Limited in appeal to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
«Marvel and DC did not invent the concept or genre of superheroes. The term, in its various spelling variations, has been mentioned since at least 1909 — decades before DC or Marvel were even founded. The first comic book characters to be labeled superheroes were not affiliated with DC or Marvel», the statement said
Marvel and DC did not respond to the petition, so the regulator eventually canceled the patent (the studios have jointly owned the trademark since at least 1980). At the same time, the companies still own the trademarks «SUPER HEROES», registered in 2018, and «SUPER-VILLAIN», registered in 1985.
Source: The Verge, Boing Boing