This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con might settle their trademark dispute to avoid it winding up before a jury.
On Wednesday, a conference was scheduled between representatives of the two comic book conventions to talk, off the record, about the possibility of a settlement.
The conference is scheduled for Oct. 27 in San Diego, Calif.
The behemoth San Diego Comic-Con sued the burgeoning Salt Lake Comic Con on Aug. 7 in Southern California's U.S. District Court, claiming that the names are too similar. As San Diego sees it, people might be confused into thinking the two events are affiliated.
Salt Lake Comic Con officially rebuked that notion on Monday. In its response to the lawsuit, the Salt Lake organizers reiterated their long-held stance that "comic con" is generic. More than 24 other conventions around the country use it as well.
In that filing, Salt Lake Comic Con demanded the matter go before a jury.
In a separate filing last week, Salt Lake Comic Con's co-defendant, MediaOne, was granted an extension to respond to San Diego's lawsuit.
MediaOne — which is a sponsor of Salt Lake Comic Con, and which prints the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News — is engaged in settlement negotiations to be dropped from the lawsuit, according to court documents.
Twitter: @mikeypanda