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All four Broken Universe-related trademarks that TNA Entertainment (now Global Force Wrestling) filed for registration have been given an initial refusal by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The "Broken Matt" trademark was refused for various reasons. The primary reason given was likely confusion with Matt Hardy's own filing for a 'Broken Matt Hardy' trademark, which Hardy filed first. TNA Entertainment will have to provide valid arguments to show there is no potential conflict between the two. Once that argument is filed, action on the application will be suspended, pending the USPTO decision on Matt's application, which would take precedence since he filed first. GFW would also need to indicate whether "Broken Matt" identifies a living person and if it does, they would then need Matt's consent. Given the estrangement between the two sides, that would place all involved in quite the interesting predicament.
The "Brother Nero" trademark was refused because GFW needed to indicate whether it identifies a living person, and if it does they would need Jeff Hardy's consent. Nero is Jeff Hardy's legitimate middle name.
The "Broken Brillance" trademark was refused because GFW must specify whether "Broken Brillance" has any significance in professional wrestling or whether it's just a "term of art" in the wrestling industry.
The trademark for "Vanguard1" was refused due to likely confusion with a non wrestling-related trademark.
It was also noted that all four trademarks were also refused because it was ruled that the wordings used for identification and classification of goods and services in the initial filing were too broad, thus the USPTO ruled those filings needed additional clarification.
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