Amid an unusual twist in the governor’s race, a wealthy Democratic businessman is suing former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to use common phrases in political movements.
Stephen Cloobeck, a philanthropist and Democratic donor who made a fortune in real estate and hospitality, filed a lawsuit against Villaraigosa this week after the former mayor repeatedly described himself as a “verification problem solver” in campaign material.
Cloobeck, who filed a federal trademark for the term “I am a proven problem solver”, filed a lawsuit against Villaraigosa late Tuesday, despite the former mayor not serving.
The lawsuit argues that Cloobeck has been using the phrase since March 2024, “it has gained widespread goodwill, developed highly unique, and became well-known, well-known and recognized as a campaign to identify Cloobeck.”
“Given fame, goodwill, and overall recognition of consumers [the phrase Cloobeck is seeking to patent, he] The lawsuit said it was very concerned that the public might be confused or mistakenly believe that the campaign in Villaragosa was obtained by litigation that Villaragosa’s campaign was recognized, approved, sponsored or associated, contacted or related litigation.
Cloobeck and Villaraigosa are two Democrats running in an increasingly crowded 2026 governoral field to replace Gavin Newsom, known as Governor.
It is incredible that a sentence used by politicians and elected officials across the country would be the subject of litigation.
“It’s totally ridiculous. This lawsuit is a joke,” said Josh Pulliam, a governor-electuring strategist at Villaragoza. “Antonio launched his campaign with his record as a reliable problem solver, and Cloobeck wanted to stop him from saying that? We think it’s totally ridiculous, Trump-like strategy. Who knows what he’s going to do next?”
Clubeck said he tried to let him know that Villaraigosa, 25 years, stopped using the phrase, and filed a lawsuit only after the lack of demands for text, phone calls and requests for face-to-face meetings.
“Their reactions – or Antonio’s reactions to me were not enough,” he said. “You can be friends and have business disagreements.”
Legal scholars say there is little chance of success in the lawsuit.
“It’s a saying that a unique or unique phrase that can be trademarked and it’s hard to succeed. In a political context, people want to stomp more cautiously because you don’t want to remove the phrase from political debates.”
“It sounds more like a political strategy than a legal strategy,” Levinson added.
