(1) "Prior art" is a term of art that has legal meaning only in the
patent field. Those using that term are probably referring to
earlier -descriptive- uses of the term SUPER HERO, which would very
likely serve as evidence in a proceeding seeking to cancel this
trademark. (/IP lawyer pedant)
(2) Neil Gaiman's point about enforceability is astute. If any
defendant in a trademark infringement lawsuit could show that the
trademark has not been adequately policed by the registrants, the
registration could be canceled.
(3) Equally astute is the observation upthread that nobody's going
to have the money to really fight this out with Marvel and DC,
which is an unfortunate side effect of big companies having oodles
of money.
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