Toys R Us Fights Trademark Battles, Brand Value

0:00It's April 6th. This is Vancouver News today. Your AI-powered local news. Toys R.A.S. Canada is in a fierce trademark fight with Acer, a Calgary Swinger's club, and a Russian company, even as it battles for survival and creditor. Protection The toy retailer all suppliers at least $120 million and landlords big sums too, while hunting for investors or buyers for assets like its valuable trademarks. They're opposing a backwards R that Acer wants for electronics, club R for the swinger spot, and wonderlap for the Russian firm's foods, toiletries, and baby products. Toys R.A.S. says these overlap with their own marks, like the reversed R they've held for 45 years in brands such as babies R.A.S. Consumers could get confused, diluting the toy chains good will, and there's even a safety worry kids might think the Russian wonderlap stuff is safe. Like their old play lab play areas, a trademark expert notes companies guard these aggressively

1:02because they're gold. You can sell or license them, just like Hudson's Bay did for 30 million dollars last year. Toys R.A.S. Canada has 162 active trademarks and is pushing back on apps filed years before their money crunch hit in February. These battles drag on for years at the Canadian intellectual property office. The swingers club insists no real confusion since they're in a totally different world, but Toys R.A.S. is standing firm to protect every bit of brand, value as they fight to stay afloat.