from the lest-ye-be-judged dept
It’s nothing new that famous and recognizable sports figures have gotten into the business of filing all kinds of trademarks around their names, nicknames, and other terms and phrases associated with them. Anthony Davis trademarked “Fear The Brow” as a result of his identifiable unibrow, for instance. Remember Jeremy Lin? You might not if you’re not a basketball fan of a certain age, but he likewise got into the trademark game for his moniker “Linsanity.” It’s all a little silly in most cases, but there are business reasons why this occurs, so it’s also not entirely out of the realm of the reasonable.
But what remains unreasonable is some random person out there uncovering that someone famous has been using a term or phrase that is suddenly famous and then attempting to trademark all of that and hold it hostage. That appears to be what occurred in 2017, when Michael Chisena applied for trademarks on “All Rise” and “Here Comes the Judge” about half a week after Aaron Judge, who is marketed using both phrases, won the MLB All Star Home Run Derby.
Michael P. Chisena, who lives in Nassau County in New York, attempted to register “All Rise” and “Here Comes the Judge” on July 14, 2017, four days after Judge won the All-Star Home Run Derby. Chisena filed that Oct. 12 to register a design mark for apparel.
Chisena claimed in court papers he conceived of the marks between 2012 and 2015 and “had no knowledge of Aaron Judge. I became aware of Aaron Judge at some point in 2017, but do not recall the exact circumstances.”
That’s one hell of a coincidence. One that the USPTO wasn’t buying as it turns out. Both Judge and MLB opposed the trademark applications for obvious reasons. The Adminstrative Trademark judge rightly ruled that the 2017 application would result in confusion with Judge and MLB’s common law trademarks, given that both had been using the terms since at least Judge’s rookie season of 2016.
In a 61-page opinion released Wednesday, Administrative Trademark Judge David K. Heasley wrote “we conclude that applicant’s marks, as used on or in connection with the apparel goods identified in his applications, so resembles opposers’ previously-used common law marks as to be likely to cause confusion or mistake, or to deceive” under the Trademark Act.
While we spill a great deal of ink around here being annoyed by trademarks that never should have been granted, or those that wield their trademarks in an unreasonable or draconian way, that doesn’t keep us from also being irritated by someone who would want to squat on a trademark for terms already in use and which were made famous by others.
With this over, Judge can get back to slugging homers and, I suppose, selling t-shirts.
Filed Under: aaron judge, all rise, here comes the judge, michael chisena, trademark, uspto
Companies: mlb
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