Media Coverage
Source: The Las Vegas Sun
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
04.25.17
After the Oakland Raiders announced their move to Las Vegas, many people attempted to trademark the name “Las Vegas Raiders” before the team could. According to the Las Vegas Sun, about half a dozen people paid to apply for the trademark, and most of them have already been denied by the federal government.
“These people think they’re going to cash in,” Washington, DC Intellectual Property partner Patrick Jennings said to the Sun. “And 99.9 percent of the time, they’re wrong.”
But Jennings says the Raiders could have avoided the competing claims in a system that the Sun says gives priority to applications chronologically, regardless of the validity of their claims.
“You want to make sure you get filings in place before the public announcement is made to avoid other enterprising folks from filing before you,” he said.
Jennings also points out that for a brand as famous as the Raiders, it will be next to impossible for anyone but the team to acquire the trademark. In the rare event that another person or company manages to have their trademark application approved, the team has the right to challenge the application for up to five years after its approval.
“You don’t have to have trademark registrations to have trademark rights. It’s not like if they lost their registrations that their rights would just evaporate.”
He also says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is used to weeding out confusing or false trademark claims.
“For a trademark lawyer, it doesn’t take much effort to knock those (applications) out separate from the patent and trademark office,” he said. “You’re kind of buying a pig in a poke. You’re not buying anything.”
Read more about the Raiders trademark claims in the Las Vegas Sun.