Cody Files Trademark For ‘Cody Rhodes’ The Day WWE’s Mark Expires

WWE’s trademark on Cody Rhodes as expired, and Cody himself has jumped right in to trademark it. Heel By Nature reports that WWE’s six-month grace period for the trademark expired on April 13th, the same day that Cody filed to filed his application.

WWE originally filed the trademark on October 13th, 2009 and the filing expired on October 13th of last year. WWE was sent notice in 2018 of the expiration in a year and the six-month grace period.

Cody previously said of the name, “By no means is WWE holding that name hostage, that is not a real thing. If I was to walk out tomorrow as Cody Rhodes and announced as Cody Rhodes, nobody’s gonna sue us, nobody’s coming after us.” He has also said that he planned to get it back and said in 2017, “I don’t mind that WWE took away my last name. Deep down, in my bones, I definitely want it back, and I have plans to get it back, but there is something to being Cody. The longer I don’t have a last name, the more I’m okay with it. That’s not to say WWE is holding it ransom. It’s literally an intellectual property law that easily can be remedied, but there is something about being Cody that I don’t mind.”