Super Heroes is a trademark jointly owned by DC Comics and Marvel Characters, Inc.Can anyone tell me what the heck this is about. I do not really think that any company does or can own that. Superhero is a genre. Not a trademark.
Note: for those interested, the website I found this on is http://www.metmuseum.org/special/superheroes/index.asp
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Yep, it's true, and has been for a few decades. It may be used as a generic term to a certain extent, but not so much as to make trademark inapplicable.
Back in 2004 (when an indy comic "Super Hero Happy Hour" ran afoul of this trademark) Todd Verbeek wrote an interesting piece on the subject at
http://briefs.toddverbeek.com/super-heroes%C2%AE-a-trademark-of-dc-and-marvel/
which is interesting reading.
Most dictionary definitions and common usages of the term are generic and not limited to the characters of any particular company or companies.
Nevertheless, variations on the term "Super Hero" are jointly claimed by DC Comics and Marvel Comics as trademarks. Registrations of "Super Hero" marks have been maintained by DC and Marvel since the 1960s. (U.S. Trademark Serial Nos. 72243225 and 73222079, among others).
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