Help Save the Geek Therapy Trademark
Donation protected
I need your help to save the Geek Therapy trademark.
8 years ago, when starting my career as a mental health professional, I created a model of behavior modification that integrated Geek culture into therapy and education and called it Geek Therapy. I then built a website to promote the model's ideas, and subsequently created podcasts and community spaces to do the same. I built a brand.
Earlier this year I sent a cease and desist letter to Dr. Anthony Bean to stop his infringement of the Geek Therapy trademark. In response, he filed for the Geek Therapy and Geek Therapist trademarks with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
I could not afford to trademark Geek Therapy but understood that common law protected my use of it until I could finally file with the PTO. I have built up substantial common law trademark rights as we have been using it for 8 years, since June 2011, to promote our ideas and provide therapy, teach at universities and conventions, publish hundreds of podcast episodes, blog posts, and hours of live content, as well as consultation and much more. But now we need to oppose Dr. Bean’s application and share the evidence of our work with the PTO.
According to the PTO: After the mark is published in the Official Gazette, any party who believes it may be damaged by registration of the mark has thirty (30) days from the publication date to file either an opposition to registration or a request to extend the time to oppose. An opposition is similar to a proceeding in a federal court but is held before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). If no opposition is filed or if the opposition is unsuccessful, the application enters the next stage of the registration process.
In response to a letter demanding that Dr. Bean abandon his applications, he offered to begin negotiations by suggesting that we amend our applications to remove the words ‘education,’ 'mental health,’ and ‘psychology’ and that I agree to not use the Geek Therapy trademark for education services or therapy services "without the permission of Dr. Bean’s organization.”
Therefore, we must oppose his filings or we will forfeit the brand recognition and trust that I and other members of the community have worked so hard to build. All funds raised here will be used to pay legal fees associated with the opposition process.
More Information
For more details, including documents to and from all of the lawyers involved, see this open letter I wrote to Dr. Bean.
How will the funds be used?
All funds will be used to pay legal fees associated with the opposition process. Our lawyer will file the necessary paperwork to oppose Dr. Bean’s filings of Geek Therapy and Geek Therapist.
Additional funds will be used to then register Geek Therapy under all the appropriate trademark classifications.
Assuming we do not have to enter litigation, any money left over will be donated to the non-profit organization Extra Life, which raises money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. We raise money for Extra Life every year and we’ll add leftover legal funds to Geek Therapy’s fundraising for this year.
Thank You
Many of you have asked "What can I do to help?" and "Is there a legal fund?" Your support has been overwhelming. I tried to resolve this in other ways but it looks like we're going to have to hire an attorney to continue fighting. I believe the law is on our side so now we just need to go to court and prove it. Thank you again for all of the support.
- Josué Cardona, Founder of Geek Therapy
PS: Other Ways to Help
1) Share this campaign.
2) Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon for as little as $1 and support Geek Therapy on an ongoing basis.
3) Buy anything from the GT merch store. We get a small commission from every purchase made from our merch store on TeePublic and if you use this link we get a commission from anything you buy from the entire TeePublic store.
8 years ago, when starting my career as a mental health professional, I created a model of behavior modification that integrated Geek culture into therapy and education and called it Geek Therapy. I then built a website to promote the model's ideas, and subsequently created podcasts and community spaces to do the same. I built a brand.
Earlier this year I sent a cease and desist letter to Dr. Anthony Bean to stop his infringement of the Geek Therapy trademark. In response, he filed for the Geek Therapy and Geek Therapist trademarks with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
I could not afford to trademark Geek Therapy but understood that common law protected my use of it until I could finally file with the PTO. I have built up substantial common law trademark rights as we have been using it for 8 years, since June 2011, to promote our ideas and provide therapy, teach at universities and conventions, publish hundreds of podcast episodes, blog posts, and hours of live content, as well as consultation and much more. But now we need to oppose Dr. Bean’s application and share the evidence of our work with the PTO.
According to the PTO: After the mark is published in the Official Gazette, any party who believes it may be damaged by registration of the mark has thirty (30) days from the publication date to file either an opposition to registration or a request to extend the time to oppose. An opposition is similar to a proceeding in a federal court but is held before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). If no opposition is filed or if the opposition is unsuccessful, the application enters the next stage of the registration process.
In response to a letter demanding that Dr. Bean abandon his applications, he offered to begin negotiations by suggesting that we amend our applications to remove the words ‘education,’ 'mental health,’ and ‘psychology’ and that I agree to not use the Geek Therapy trademark for education services or therapy services "without the permission of Dr. Bean’s organization.”
Therefore, we must oppose his filings or we will forfeit the brand recognition and trust that I and other members of the community have worked so hard to build. All funds raised here will be used to pay legal fees associated with the opposition process.
More Information
For more details, including documents to and from all of the lawyers involved, see this open letter I wrote to Dr. Bean.
How will the funds be used?
All funds will be used to pay legal fees associated with the opposition process. Our lawyer will file the necessary paperwork to oppose Dr. Bean’s filings of Geek Therapy and Geek Therapist.
Additional funds will be used to then register Geek Therapy under all the appropriate trademark classifications.
Assuming we do not have to enter litigation, any money left over will be donated to the non-profit organization Extra Life, which raises money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. We raise money for Extra Life every year and we’ll add leftover legal funds to Geek Therapy’s fundraising for this year.
Thank You
Many of you have asked "What can I do to help?" and "Is there a legal fund?" Your support has been overwhelming. I tried to resolve this in other ways but it looks like we're going to have to hire an attorney to continue fighting. I believe the law is on our side so now we just need to go to court and prove it. Thank you again for all of the support.
- Josué Cardona, Founder of Geek Therapy
PS: Other Ways to Help
1) Share this campaign.
2) Become a member of Geek Therapy on Patreon for as little as $1 and support Geek Therapy on an ongoing basis.
3) Buy anything from the GT merch store. We get a small commission from every purchase made from our merch store on TeePublic and if you use this link we get a commission from anything you buy from the entire TeePublic store.
Organizer
Josué Cardona
Organizer
San Juan, PR
