With an unusual twist on the governor’s race, wealthy Democratic businessmen are suing former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for the use of popular phrases in political campaigns.
The creation of his fortune in real estate and hospitality was filed a lawsuit against Villalaigoza this week after the former mayor repeatedly described the campaign material as a “proven problem solver.”
Cloobeck, who applied for the federal trademark with the phrase “I am a proven problem solver,” texted Villaraigosa late Tuesday about the federal lawsuit, but the former mayor has not yet been offered.
The lawsuit claims that Cloobeck has been using the phrase since March 2024, “it is perceived as a way to acquire broad goodwill, develop advanced features, become famous, well-known and identified Cloobeck’s campaign.”
“In light of fame, I am concerned that the overall perception of the consumer (Cloobeck is about to obtain a patent, he) believes or mistakenly believes that Villaraigosa’s campaign is approved, approved, approved, affiliated, alliance, alliance, association or related.”
Cloobeck and Villaraigosa are two Democrats running on behalf of the Gavin Newsom government.
Representatives of Villaraigosa believed that phrases used by politicians and elected officials across the country would be subject to lawsuits.
“This is totally ridiculous. This lawsuit is a joke,” said strategist Josh Puliam. “Antonio launched his campaign with a record of being a proven problem solver. Does Cloobeck want to prevent him from saying that? I think it’s totally ridiculous and Trump-like tactics.
Cloobeck said he tried to get a Villaraigosa known for a quarter century. They stopped using this phrase and filed lawsuits only after they had not responded to requests for texting, phone calls or in-person meetings.
“The lack of responses from them, or Antonio, to me, is frankly offensive,” he said, adding that they had lunch at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills six weeks ago. “You can become friends and have business discrepancies.”
Legal scholars said the lawsuit had little chance of success.
“It’s very difficult to make a successful claim that this is a unique or distinctive phrase that could become a trademark. In a political context, people would want to step on it more carefully, as they don’t want to remove the phrase from the political debate.”
“This sounds more like political tactics than legal tactics,” added Levinson.
