Iron Maiden disputes women’s lingerie company trademark: ‘Maiden Wear’

Metal icons Iron Maiden is going after a women’s lingerie brand, claiming the name would be associated with the band and confuse fans. However, according to Tech Dirt’s Timothy Geigner, that’s not what is so confusing about this case.

by Timothy Geigner of Tech Dirt

Iron Maiden, the band, is not a band I have thought about much in the last, oh, let’s call it 20 years. They have made it onto our pages before, specifically for behaving like trademark bullies, which is apropos. I say that as the band most recently is opposing the trademark application for a lingerie company that goes by the name “Maiden Wear,” asserting that the public is going to think that the company is associated with the band because the band also sells clothing merch.

“An LA resident called Min Yu Chen who is trying to trademark the Maiden Wear brand. But, in opposing her application, Iron Maiden’s lawyers point out that their clients own the ‘Iron Maiden’ trademark in various categories, including “clothing, namely, t-shirts, tank tops, long sleeve shirts, shorts, jerseys, sweatshirts, sweatpants, pants, jackets, hats, leather wrist bands, scarves and shoes”.

And while the Iron Maiden merch store online isn’t currently selling any abdominal corsets, shapewear, bras, lingerie or panties featuring the band’s name, logo or artwork, you can buy yourself some lovely boxer shorts. So, you know, the band is currently using its trademark in the all important underwear market.

The opposition rests on the idea that “Maiden” is a dominant word in the names of both entities. This, of course, does not mean there is any actual real public confusion here, only a metal band wringing its hands over the potential for confusion.

“Thus, applicant’s Maiden Wear mark, when used in connection with the goods described in the Maiden Wear application, is likely to deceive or cause consumer confusion or mistake among members of the public and potential purchasers as to the source, sponsorship or composition of applicant’s goods in relation to opposer’s goods. Such confusion will damage opposer and injure its reputation in the trade and with the public”.

If only this was an experiment that had already been run, so we could see if this sort of confusion would actually occur if a clothing company of any kind had the work “Maiden” dominant in its name. Like Maiden Lifestyle, for instance, a clothing brand that sells t-shirts and the like. Or Maiden Voyage, another company that sells t-shirts and common clothing. Or, perhaps most appropriate, Maidenform, a brand that sells women’s undergarments.

All of those companies exist today, apparently without any issue for Iron Maiden which, and I cannot stress this enough, is a metal band most popular decades ago. If the band is this worried about underwear companies using the term “maiden”, which is absurd on its face, then it’s done a terrible job of policing that worry generally.