There is now a final settlement in the "cocky" case which resolves the lawsuit and withdraws the cocky trademark - I'm very happy it was resolved without going through the entire process. Alpha males can all be as cocky as they want!
I'm very glad to put the dispute behind us, and as I've said before I believe in burying the hatchet and plan to do so. There's lots of other trademark issues and "black hat" stuff to worry about.
But there are also many people to thank for helping to get this one resolved!
But there are also many people to thank for helping to get this one resolved!
Thanks to Cameron Reuber and Lauren Emerson from @LeasonEllis for taking on the case for all three defendants pro bono and fighting so hard to win the case. They're both great attorneys and they really did a great favor to the writing community.
Thanks to @AuthorsGuild and @romancewriters for jumping in to fund the lawyers for the other defendants. It's scary getting sued and scary seeing some of these trademarks, but knowing that they and other author's groups will have your back is a huge relief.
Thanks to @amazon and especially to its in-house lawyers and whoever there decided to wait until the legal issues were resolved in the courts before enforcing the trademark on its site. They were in a hard spot legally, but that was a really important decision for lots of people.
If I forget someone then thank you too! So many people banded together as a community, and it makes me hopeful that publishing won't end up like some other fields that are legal war zones.
