Once, Long Ago — When An “Immovable Object Met An Irresistible Force…”

This is now (based on a few wide-ranging US federal courts searches) one of the longest commercial trademark/name disputes in US history — and it is absolutely so, if we measure from the date of the last wide ranging settlement in the middle 1970s (and count only actually identical names — like the WWF v. WWF one)… but by way of comparison World Wildlife vs. World Wrestling (over the WWF acronym) only lasted 13 years. We are well over 50 now, here — and just over 100, if we count from that day of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles (at the close of WW I), all in.

I mention all of this with a twinkle in my eye, since it seems that even the New Jersey federal courts are tiring of this battle of titans, in the pharmaceuticals space — German v. US to and fro’. We’ve long advocated for, and like many others, encouraged each side to find a… negotiated settlement.

As of this morning, the parties have been ordered to either select a private party mediator, or choose a settlement conference — in front of the court, as at least one route to getting this one moved off dead center, thus:

…As discussed during the September 29, 2020 telephone status conference, on or before October 12, 2020, the parties will inform the Court whether they wish for the Undersigned to conduct a settlement conference with them before the end of November, or whether they have agreed to the selection of a private mediator, as well as three possible dates in November for such a settlement conference if it is to be before the Undersigned. So Ordered by Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer on 9/29/2020….

We shall, as ever — see. And of course, the same battle rages on in the courts of Germany, Japan, parts of South and Central America, Australia and Canada — as well as the UK — to name just a few. I’ve long said it would save both titans tens of millions in the long run (in legal fees alone), if they would settle, but I now suspect it will grind on, deep into 2021 — and perhaps beyond.

Onward on a cool, breezy fall afternoon — and in an ironic echo of the above — I for one am expecting a lot of heat, but very little light, from tonight’s debate. But as a citizen, I guess I have a duty to watch… even if I cannot stand the sight (or sound) of the incumbent.

नमस्ते