One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever done

[bolts_fan]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

The front office did not trademark 19-0. They said on the pre game shows that there was some dude that trademarked "19-0" and the "Perfect Season" for a total of $400.00 and that if the Pats did go 19-0 then the Pats would have had to negotiate with this individual.

Wrong.

The Patriots FO did attempt to trademark 19-0. Only to find out that someone beat them to it (the guy you mentioned above). Since they filed with the PTO, it became public record and that's how the story broke.

Good business sense because in terms of trademark law, the first person who files generally gets it. There are some exceptions to this of course and the details are too complicated to go into, but an example of where you can't trademark something even if you're first to file would be if you're using an existing registered mark. Like some guy wanting to sell iPod accessories and came up with a really catchy name, but included "iPod" in that name. In that circumstance he can file and may even be granted approval but then Apple can sue and will win and essentially take over the mark.

But something like 19-0 is generic enough that this doesn't really apply, so first one to file is the one that gets it. So from a business standpoint, it was wise to do. Just doesn't look good from a PR standpoint.

 

[Mack Herron]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

Couldn't disagree more. As he pointed out, this is standard business practice. The only place the Pats take a hit for this is in the minds of those who aren't capable of an ounce of critical thought.

The most overblown and obnoxious stories of the week by far were the "jumping the gun" stories, I swear I would rather have Gregg Easterbrook telling me bedtime stories about Spygate than read one more article or post about how the Patriots got ahead of themselves.

Sorry, but you will never go broke underestimating the public' s ability to think critiically. A good business man knows that perception matters and needs to be managed. That is why he has lawyers and PR departments.

 

[bolts_fan]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

The Patriots are a business first, believe it or not. This reminds me of the early days of the internet, smart people made millions by registering websites that big companies would want to use, and those same companies had to pay massive amounts of money to secure the rights to those websites. Same thing goes for trademarks. Someone else would have done it first, and the Patriots would be paying them for the rights to use it.

The Patriots are a well run organization from top to bottom, and I'm not going to jump all over them for making smart business decisions even if they end up with egg on their face. I personally think you're overrating the impact things like this ultimately have on the game. If you think the Giants front 7 tried that much harder to sack Tom Brady because of some trademark issue (implying they wouldn't have tried just as hard otherwise, in the SUPER BOWL) than you don't understand the competitive spirit of professional athletes.

Gee, I really wanted to get up for the Super Bowl, but I didn't feel disrespected in any way, so I just hung back and let Tom Brady pick us apart.

Absolutely correct. As long as the registration does not utilize an existing registered mark, then you're good. Otherwise ICANN can rule that you're cybersquatting and revoke your registration, granting the domain to the mark's own.

So someone could essentially register www.ibm.com first and hold it for a bit. But any challenge from IBM Inc. and it'll be transferred to IBM in a heartbeat.

On the other hand, generic domains that worth millions. As an example, the guy that was smart enough to registered www.sex.com sold it for $9 million. There are other generic domains that was registered by individuals and savvy companies that have netted them millions. Things like www.insurance.com, www.movies.com, etc.

 

[homerpatsfan]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

i think alot of people took 19-0 for granted. and thats why we are where we are. some how we as fans and the media made 19-0 bigger than the superbowl itself. had we concentrated on the game and not the fame, who knows?? no disrespect to the giants. but we are the better team. time to move on

 

[LiveShot]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

They all do it. Every team that ever played in the Super Bowl has gear made in advance as most sales are made in the first 3 days. Strike while the iron is hot. The losing gear is sent to some third world country so the manufacturers can write it off as "donations" on their Fed/State tax reports.

 

[neuronet]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

The title is way over the top, but I agree it was idiotic. Just stupid. Kraft is wonderful, but sometimes he goes for the money at the expense of the team (e.g., the horrible layout of the stadium).

 

[Watson's IQ]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

Sorry, but you will never go broke underestimating the public' s ability to think critiically. A good business man knows that perception matters and needs to be managed. That is why he has lawyers and PR departments.

You'd have to convince me that the Patriots are going to suffer some tangible blow to their bottom line because of the fact that they tried to trademark 19-0 in order for me to sign off on your premise.

The people who were ticked off by this are not any more or less likely to give the Patriots their money than they were before, and I've yet to meet a Pats fan who said "gee, I wanted that new Welker jersey for my birthday, but since the Pats tried to trademark 19-0, screw them."

I can easily make a case that it would hurt the bottom line for the Patriots to have to pay off someone who beat them to the trademark on 19-0.

If you want to make a business argument, then make one, but don't base it on the Patriots further pissing off people who hated them already.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

I hope next years team reloads with the needed talent on defense but forgets about scoring records or going undefeated. Instead concentrate on earning another Lombardy.

 

[neuronet]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

I can easily make a case that it would hurt the bottom line for the Patriots to have to pay off someone who beat them to the trademark on 19-0.

That's the point. He shouldn't have put minor economic motives in front of good sense for this game.

 

[sebman2112]

Re: One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever

Knocking the Patriots FO for their supposed lack of intelligence, and decision making while making the fallowing statement?

"One of the dumbest things and worse decisions the Patriots organization has ever done"


...........:explative genius!