(AllHipHop News) If you’re wondering What Would Jesus Do on stage, in a movie and/or on TV, it will more than likely be a Tyler Perry Production. Recently, Tyler Perry was awarded the trademark for “What Would Jesus Do” after a four year legal battle with reality TV star Kimberly Kearney.
According to documentation with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, Kearney claims to have first applied for the trademark for “What Would Jesus Do”. Kearney claims Perry stole her idea and only attempted to trademark “What Would Jesus Do” after meeting with her about the idea:
Not many months after sharing this program and soliciting [Perry] for financial support of this program, [Perry] filed to register this mark; consequently, eventually resulting in this cancellation proceeding.
Perry registered the mark back in May 2008, months after Kearney had filed the mark for a reality TV series. Perry’s mark was registered for a TV series, live concert and a movie.
Even though Kearney provided evidence of starting a web page to gather auditions for the show, Perry’s request for her trademark being abandoned was granted after Kearney failed to admit certain allegations. According to documents related to the case, Perry’s attorneys requested Kearney admit that she did not intend to make a television show, did not take meetings for such a show and did not produce a show under the name “What Would Jesus Do”. Since Kearney “did not timely answer [Perry]’s Requests for Admission, the facts included are deemed admitted and are ‘conclusively established” according to the administrative judges presiding over the trademark case.
Kimberly Kearney appeared in the 2008 VH1 reality show I Want to Work for Diddy.
