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