{"id":7713,"date":"2025-09-07T22:12:59","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T22:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/barry-manilow-copacabana-trademarks-blocked-by-clubs-name-rights\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T22:12:59","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T22:12:59","slug":"barry-manilow-copacabana-trademarks-blocked-by-clubs-name-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/barry-manilow-copacabana-trademarks-blocked-by-clubs-name-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Barry Manilow ‘Copacabana’ Trademarks Blocked by Club’s Name Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tBarry Manilow has been trying for years to get federal trademarks tied to his 1978 smash hit \u201cCopacabana.\u201d There\u2019s just one problem: The real New York City nightclub that inspired the song already owns rights to the name.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor decades, federal records show, companies linked to Manilow have applied to register Copacabana-related trademarks, including \u201cBarry Manilow Presents Copacabana\u201d in 1991, \u201cBarry Manilow\u2019s Copacabana\u201d in 2006, \u201cBarry Manilow\u2019s Copacabana Hotel & Casino\u201d in 2023, and another earlier this year.<\/p>\n

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\n\tBut such efforts have so far been unsuccessful, thanks largely to one big problem: Trademarks for the name are already<\/em> registered by the owners of the<\/em> Copacabana, the legendary Manhattan nightclub referenced in Manilow\u2019s song.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a May ruling, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the application for the \u201cManilow\u2019s Copacabana Hotel\u201d trademark, saying that consumers would likely be confused into thinking \u2014 wrongly \u2014 that the new brand was some kind of collaboration with the famed New York establishment.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBarry Manilow and the Copa\/Copacabana are two cultural icons whose names are forever linked,\u201d the agency wrote at the time. \u201cThe original Copa\/Copacabana cabaret inspired Mr. Manilow\u2019s colossally popular song \u2018Copacabana (At the Copa).’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGiven this history, persons familiar with [the nightclub] upon encountering [the Manilow trademarks] would readily assume, mistakenly, that the services emanate from a common source or somehow share sponsorship,\u201d USPTO wrote in the decision.<\/p>\n

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\n\tLast month, attorneys filed an appeal of that ruling, which remains pending. Those lawyers declined to comment for this story, and two press reps for Manilow did not return requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tReleased in 1978 on Manilow\u2019s fifth studio album, Even Now<\/em>, \u201cCopacabana\u201d reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and later won a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. It\u2019s remained one of his signature songs for decades, with only the 1974 smash \u201cMandy\u201d earning more spins on Spotify. \u201cIt turned out to be the most popular song in my catalog,\u201d the singer told NBC News<\/em><\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe inspiration for the track was reportedly<\/a> The Copacabana, a storied Manhattan nightclub that first opened in 1940 and, during its mid-century heyday, played host to movie stars, mobsters, music legends and, apparently, Manilow. The club has repeatedly moved locations over the years, most recently from Times Square following a COVID-era shutdown to a new spot on West 51st Street.<\/p>\n

\n\tSet to a danceable disco track, Manilow\u2019s lyrics tell a sad story set in the eponymous venue, where a washed-up showgirl named Lola \u201cdrinks herself half-blind\u201d as she reminisces about her glory days \u201c30 years ago\u201d at the Copa, before her bartender boyfriend was killed by a gangster.<\/p>\n

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\n\tWay back in 1991, federal records show that Hastings, Clayton & Tucker Inc., a company that owns Manilow intellectual property, first applied to register \u201cBarry Manilow Presents Copacabana\u201d as a trademark. That\u2019s the name of a live show that played at an Atlantic City casino in the early 1990s, which was later adapted into a full-length stage production known as Barry Manilow\u2019s Copacabana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat application was quickly abandoned for unknown reasons. But in 2006, another company affiliated with Manilow (Cove Holdings LLC) applied for the trademark \u201cBarry Manilow\u2019s Copacabana,\u201d seeking to register the name for selling a vast range of goods and services, including nightclubs, alcohol, merchandise and more.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis time, the application was hit with a legal opposition case, filed by a company called APOC Restaurant Inc. \u2014 the owners of the New York City nightclub. The company and its predecessors, which have owned a federal trademark registration on \u201cCopacabana\u201d since 1982, argued in legal filings that nobody had the right to take a name they\u2019d already been using for decades. In 2008, the \u201cManilow\u2019s Copacabana\u201d application was withdrawn.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut starting in June 2021, Hastings, Clayton & Tucker tried again \u2014 this time filing four more Copacabana-related applications. In 2023 came \u201cBarry Manilow\u2019s Copacabana,\u201d followed by \u201cBarry Manilow\u2019s Copa\u201d and the \u201cHotel & Casino\u201d mark, and finally \u201cBarry Manilow\u2019s Copacabana \u2014 The Party\u201d earlier this year.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIt\u2019s unclear exactly what kind of business is in the works. Manilow\u2019s reps did not return requests for comment from Billboard<\/em>, and the trademark applications were all filed on an \u201cintent to use\u201d basis \u2014 meaning they don\u2019t need to show concrete evidence that the names are already being used in real life.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat is required is for the applications to list what goods and services the trademarks will eventually be used to sell. The \u201cManilow\u2019s Copacabana\u201d application covers a huge range of goods and services, from booze to clothing to household goods, while the \u201cCopa\u201d and the \u201cHotel & Casino\u201d applications unsurprisingly cover hotels, casinos, spas and other hospitality services. Finally, the \u201cParty\u201d application covers live entertainment services, including \u201cdinner theater\u201d and cabaret.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s unclear what the current owners of the real-life Copacabana think about the latest push for Manilow-linked \u201cCopacabana\u201d trademarks. The law firm that renewed the nightclub\u2019s trademarks in 2023 told Billboard<\/em> that it no longer represents the Copa, and calls and emails to the company itself were not returned.<\/p>\n

\n\tNo matter the Copacabana\u2019s view on the situation, the Manilow trademarks continue hitting roadblocks. In May, two of the recent filings (\u201cManilow\u2019s Copa\u201d and \u201cHotel & Casino\u201d) were rejected by USPTO examiners, with both citing the original \u201cCopacabana\u201d marks held by the NYC nightclub as the reason. Another application has been suspended, and the newest application (\u201cParty\u201d) has yet to be processed.<\/p>\n

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\n\tLast month, lawyers for Hastings, Clayton & Tucker appealed the ruling rejecting the \u201cHotel\u201d trademark to the USPTO\u2019s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which will now get to decide the fate of the Manilow Copacabana trademarks. If the board upholds the rejection, the ruling can be appealed further to a federal district court.<\/p>\n

\n\tThough Hastings, Clayton & Tucker has not yet filed full appellate arguments, earlier filings from its lawyers hint at the case they might make: That the name \u201cBarry Manilow,\u201d and not \u201cCopacabana,\u201d is the \u201cdominant\u201d portion of the name: \u201cBecause the wording \u2018Barry Manilow\u2019s\u2019 consists of a personal name, and particularly the personal name of an incredibly famous celebrity, it is inherently distinctive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhether that argument succeeds, and the long-sought Manilow Copacabana trademarks are finally issued after decades of trying, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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Barry Manilow has been trying for years to get federal trademarks tied to his 1978 smash hit \u201cCopacabana.\u201d There\u2019s just one problem: The real New York City nightclub […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2945,1286,6743,6742,2946,408,1868],"class_list":["post-7713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lawyers","tag-barry","tag-blocked","tag-clubs","tag-copacabana","tag-manilow","tag-rights","tag-trademarks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}