Cody Rhodes has addressed the situation between himself and WWE over the trademark rights to his ring name.
We noted back in April that Rhodes, real name Cody Runnels, was looking to gain the trademark rights to his ring name as he filed to trademark it on Monday, April 13, 2020.
He has been going by the name “Cody” since he left WWE because WWE owned the rights to the “Rhodes” name and as a result, he couldn’t use it. Previously, WWE owned the trademark, but it ran out in October 2019. Thus, he had a chance to get the ownership rights to it.
It was recently revealed by looking up the USPTO listing that although WWE’s original registration was supposed to expire in April, it was renewed on May 15. Per the listing, the reason for that was due to WWE being given a delay because of COVID-10.
Rhodes took to Twitter to make it clear that this was purely a business move and there is no grudge over it. He wrote the following:
“It’s not as sultry/scandalous as reported. It’s just business. They’ve seen the same data we have, and they know they can make big money off the brand(even though it’s not in their house). Trying to license me is flattering, but it doesn’t stop this train from moving. No grudge.”
It’s not as sultry/scandalous as reported. It’s just business. They’ve seen the same data we have, and they know they can make big money off the brand(even though it’s not in their house). Trying to license me is flattering, but it doesn’t stop this train from moving. No grudge. https://t.co/7pkPtU1Cry
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) July 4, 2020
