The Godfather Clears the Air on Potential Trademark Issues with ‘The Godfather’ Film Franchise

WWE Hall of Famer The Godfather was one of the mainstays of the company during the early 90s, when he was Papa Shango. When he embraced his Godfather gimmick in 1998, the WWE Hall of Famer truly became a well-known name in the company. With that said, he has now revealed if he ever had trademark issues with ‘The Godfather’ film franchise.

Due to just how influential The Godfather was in the company, he would end up signing a 5-year Legends deal with WWE back in 2023. It’s to be noted that despite his name, he has no relation to ‘The Godfather’ film series at all.

While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, The Godfather explained that he hasn’t faced any trademark disputes with The Godfather film franchise. He mentioned that even though he’s under the Legend deal, he owns the trademarks for both The Godfather and Papa Shango. WWE had let those trademarks go, and when they did, he quickly picked them up.

The Godfather’s lawyer Mike Dawkins, alerted him right away, advising him to secure the trademarks immediately. He managed to get Papa Shango quickly, but it took two attempts to secure The Godfather due to potential conflicts with the movie. They had to make some adjustments in terms of merchandise, but he was eventually successful. He added that WWE has never interfered with his use of the names, nor has the movie studio.

“[Did you ever run into trademark issues with ”The Godfather” films?] Actually, I have traded; I own Godfather and Papa Shango even though I’m under a Legends deal. I’ve trademarked both of those. WWE didn’t have the trademarks, um, apparently they let it go, and when they let it go, I picked it up. They let a lot of guys from my era, they let the trademarks go. They didn’t protect it, and so, uh, Mike Dawkins, my lawyer, he, uh, called me right away, and he’s like, ‘Hey, hey, hey, you need to jump on this right away.’ I got Papa Shango right away, and it took a while—it took two tries on Godfather because of the movie, so we had to separate it a little bit on merchandise and stuff, but I got that too. But WWE has never messed with me about using my name, ever. Ever. [What about the movie studio?] Never.”

It is good to know that The Godfather never ran into any kind of trademark disputes over his name with the film franchise and he can freely use his name for anything he desires. Regardless, the WWE legend will continue to live life the way he sees fit and that’s all that matters to him.

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