X-Men, IP and Trade Marks

The latest Marvel blockbuster, Deadpool & Wolverine, has just hit the cinemas and is already breaking records. But, have you ever wondered why The X-Men or Deadpool haven’t featured in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) yet? Danielle Malone, Chartered Trade Mark Attorney at Pure Ideas, explains.

Their latest appearance and inclusion are all to do with intellectual property rights and the complicated ownership of film rights. There are a number of rights at play here, including character rights, marketing rights, copyrights, trade marks and ownership issues.

Did you know that Marvel Studios, a part of Marvel, did not always hold all of film rights to their superheroes? Previously, they were held by or licensed out to other companies.

In 1993, Marvel sold the rights to X-Men, including Wolverine and Deadpool, to Twentieth Century Fox. This situation is echoed with Spider-Man, where the rights were sold off to Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1999. This is why the latest Tom Holland Spider-Man movies are Sony Movies (with Marvel Studios), as Sony still owns the live-action rights to Spider-Man.

This all means that for a period of time, Marvel’s intellectual property rights and portfolio of superheroes were spread around different companies, all of which had different agreements determining who could film what and which characters appear in what film and with who.

In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment and then in 2019 came the $71.3 billion acquisition of Fox by Disney. This has given Marvel Studios the green light to finally include and welcome these beloved superheroes in the MCU.

Thankfully, this now means that we can see the two boisterous superheroes battle it out together in the latest film (and hopefully they will team up again in the future!).

This all highlights the importance of and challenges with intellectual property ownership and the rights to use characters. If you have seen the film, you might have noticed a nod to this struggle, with a number of IP puns thanks to ‘Marvel Jesus’.

Intellectual property and ownership rights can be confusing, and it can be difficult to know where you stand. If you have questions about intellectual property, our team are on hand to answer your questions. Get in touch today to speak to our experienced team.