Eminem refuses to attend ‘Reasonably Shady’ deposition he initiated

Following the rapper’s opposition to two former Real Housewives members trademarking the name “Reasonably Shady” for their podcast, Eminem’s team claims he’s too busy to attend the deposition.

by Timothy Geigner of Tech Dirt

While I’m mildly surprised by this, at least it’s a pleasant surprise. Almost exactly a year ago rapper Eminem opposed the trademark for the “Reasonably Shady” podcast, which is itself a product of Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon, both of whom were on Real Housewives of Potomac. The opposition itself is quite silly, with Em’s team essentially suggesting that any use of the word “Shady” by anyone else in any form of entertainment is somehow going to confuse the public into thinking he is in some way associated with the content. 

As part of fighting the opposition, Bryant and Dixon both sat for depositions with the lawyers in the case. But when they in turn wanted to depose Eminem, his lawyers asked the USPTO to excuse him from doing so, claiming he wouldn’t have much to add to the proceedings and that he was, like, really busy. With things! And also stuff!

Fortunately, in my view, the USPTO board has decided that Eminem should in fact sit for deposition for the trademark opposition he himself initiated.

The Board later found the award-winning rapper had not “demonstrated good cause exists for a protective order prohibiting [Robyn and Gizelle] from deposing him.”

“[Eminem] fails to provide any detail regarding the asserted projects, their nature, duration or manner in which they render his appearance at a deposition unduly burdensome,” the statement continued. “If, as [Eminem] contends, he has little knowledge relevant to the issues in the case, the deposition should be relatively short.”

The reality is that Eminem should probably cease this waste of his own time and drop the opposition. Because at the end of the day, I really don’t see how his opposition could possibly be successful. Any claims of potential confusion rest on a very broad concern that any use of the word “shady” would cause likewise confusion. And that’s just not how trademarks work, particularly when it comes to very commonly used words and terms.

As to whether Eminem’s schedule is busy enough that he’d rather drop the opposition than sit for deposition, well, it’s in his court now.