In a scathing criticism of FanX’s founders and legal team, a federal judge has ruled that the organizers of the former Salt Lake Comic Con must pay nearly $4 million in attorney fees and costs to San Diego Comic-Con after losing a trademark-infringement case.
In an order filed Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Battaglia ordered Dan Farr Productions, the company that stages Salt Lake City’s annual pop-culture convention, and FanX founders Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg to pay $3,962,486.84 to San Diego Comic-Con for attorney fees and expert costs in the four-year-old lawsuit.
Battaglia also declared that FanX must stop using the phrase “formerly known as Salt Lake Comic Con” in advertising and social media, and can no longer use its old website domain, saltlakecomiccon.