Romance writer trademarks 'cocky' — and threatens to sue rivals who use it, they say

Using the word "cocky" in the title of a romantic novel could prove to be a costly mistake.

That's according to Faleena Hopkins — author of romantic novels like "Cocky Cowboy" and "Cocky Biker" as a part of her 18-book "The Cocky Series" — who obtained a trademark for the word "cocky" from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

As outrage grew, Hopkins explained on Twitter why she decided to fight for ownership of "cocky."

"It’s a brand," she wrote. "And everyone who wants to can keep their books, rankings, reviews and their money by retitling which takes one day.

"I receive letters from readers who lost money thinking they bought my series," she continued in another tweet. "I’m protecting them and that’s what trademarks are meant for."

There is some nuance in the trademark Hopkins obtained, however. According to documents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the trademark only applies to "a series of books in the field of romance" but it does apply to "any particular font style, size or color."

Jamila Jasper, the author of romantic books about interracial couples, posted an apparent threatening email from Hopkins on Twitter.

Jasper is the author of a book titled "Cocky Cowboy" — and the email said Hopkins will "win all the monies you have earned on this title" if Jasper doesn't change the name of her novel.

"I will do that — but I'd rather give you the option," the apparent email from Hopkins reads. "I have had this series established since June 16, 2016 and I take all of the hard work I put into establishing it very seriously."

Others took to Twitter under #cockygate to post their thoughts on the odd copyright battle.

One user named Kayleigh Donaldson even noticed that some romance authors already seemed to change the titles of their books.

"It took me about seventeen seconds to locate several romance books on Amazon with the word 'Cocky' in their titles which were published before the alleged first use in commerce of the mark by HHP," he wrote. "(In fact, I found what is arguably a series of books using the mark to identify a series, which makes the registration itself sort of iffy, but that’s a separate issue.) So for this reason as well, if in fact the publishing company and/or its attorneys are representing that using the word 'Cocky' in the title of a book infringes the trademark, they are likely in error.

"Or, at least, any attempt to enforce the trademark against such goods would likely open the trademark registration up to attack and potential invalidation on the grounds of prior use and/or lack of distinctiveness."

The trade association Romance Writers of America is now in chats with an attorney about the situation, according to the New York Post. Another author named Kevin Kneupper has asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to take away Hopkins' trademark.

He filed a petition about it.

“Such generic terms cannot be subject to a trademark," he wrote. "The word 'cocky' itself—standing on its own—is a mere adjective, a word that has long been in use in the industry in titles, covers, keywords, advertising, and book descriptions to describe the ‘alpha male’ characters frequently encountered in romance novels."

Hopkins updated her Twitter bio to say "let the public stoning commence.""

"I'll be over here eating ice cream," she wrote. "Mmmm. Mint. Chocolate chip. So good."

She also seemed to express confusion about the social media uproar over her trademark.

"Still going.... really??!"

This story was originally published May 11, 2018 at 9:31 AM with the headline "Romance writer trademarks 'cocky' — and threatens to sue rivals who use it, they say."