{"id":3124,"date":"2023-12-13T16:44:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T21:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/?p=3124"},"modified":"2024-07-13T06:01:51","modified_gmt":"2024-07-13T06:01:51","slug":"killer-trademarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/killer-trademarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Killer Trademarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nKnew He Was a Killer, First Time that I Saw Him<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eight Pro Bowls. Four First-Team All-Pro Awards. Three Second-Team All-Pro Awards. Two Super-Bowl Championships. One Podcast. We know all too well that Travis Kelce is one of the most accomplished football players in the NFL. From his accomplishments on field to his recent endeavors off-field like his podcast, New Heights<\/em><\/a>, Travis Kelce has accomplished a lot in his first 34 years of life. But what\u2019s gotten him to this level of recognition?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some say it\u2019s his college football career at the University of Cincinnati. Others say it\u2019s his strong stats in the NFL. People who don\u2019t watch football might say it\u2019s his mom, Donna<\/a>. He says<\/a> it\u2019s from \u201c[understanding] the other side of the ball just as well as you know your side of the ball. You feel me? Because everything is predicated off of what I’m doing and what the defense is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Call it what you want, I say his future business success will come from his new girlfriend, Taylor Swift<\/a>, and her fearless business team.<\/p>\n

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Taylor Swift performing You Belong With Me during the Eras Tour, Houston Night 3, Photo by Ashton Duke.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Treacherous Trademarks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just like I explained in Look What You Made Me Blog<\/a>, trademarks include words and symbols, like logos that help distinguish your goods from other goods. Additionally, trademarks can also be sounds that help identify your goods, like the three chimes for NBC<\/a>. Trademarks do not have to be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to be owned. Registering your trademark with the USPTO offers greater legal than not registering it.<\/p>\n

Specifically, federal registration gives trademark owners the legal presumption of validity and that they own the trademark. Why?\u00a0 Because the USPTO has evaluated trademarks to find that they are in fact valid trademarks in terms of being adequately distinctive to indicate the source of goods and services. Federally registered trademarks<\/a>\u00a0give trademark owners the ability to use the \u201c\u00ae\u201d symbol after the trademark.<\/p>\n

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Taylor Swift performing Delicate during the Eras Tour, Houston Night 3, Photo by Ashton Duke.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is Looking like a (con)TESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Registered trademarks appear in the USPTO\u2019s database<\/a>, <\/u><\/span>Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS),<\/span> and can be searched by the public. Whether you\u2019re looking to register a new mark or looking up the marks of your suburban legends, the USPTO\u2019s allows users to find trademarks in the USPTO database. TESS can even help you if you\u2019re searching for a sound you haven\u2019t heard before<\/a> since all trademarked sounds are in the database.<\/p>\n

In the last few years, TESS has received more attention as Taylor Swift\u2019s fans have used it to determine when her re-recorded albums will drop. Once Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift started dating, her fandom also became invested in everything related to Travis Kelce. This includes looking up his intellectual property.<\/p>\n

This Love Left a Permanent Mark<\/strong><\/p>\n

Within one day of filing, news of Travis Kelce\u2019s trademark applications flooded social media. Travis Kelce\u2019s lawyers at Calfee, Halter & Griswold<\/a> filed applications for 1) Travis Kelce<\/a>, 2) KILLATRAV<\/a>, 3) Alright Nah<\/a>, 4) Flight 87<\/a>, and 5) Kelce\u2019s Krunch<\/a>. Swifties and Chiefs fans alike were speculating about the timing of the applications and his relationship with Taylor Swift, who has hundreds of trademarks.<\/a><\/p>\n

But how did he get the idea of applying for trademarks? Did Taylor talk to him about the importance of owning your own intellectual property? Did Taylor talk to his mom while she was telling stories about him on the tee-ball team? Did he talk business with her father? We may never know but we can be appreciative that he is taking advantage of his right to own intellectual property.<\/p>\n

Karma is a Good and\/or Service<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to tell when Taylor Swift registers a trademark for a re-recorded album because of (Taylor\u2019s Version)<\/em><\/a> at the end of the mark. what else can TESS show us about how marks are used? More specifically, how will Travis Kelce use these marks?<\/p>\n

In TESS, each trademark application includes details such as the mark, associated goods and services, ownership, and more. The goods and services category, defining how marks will be used, is particularly useful for users. The USPTO has established distinct classes of goods, aiding in determining the intended commercial use of the mark<\/p>\n

Based on the screenshot of the Travis Kelce<\/em> mark application, the mark will be used in association with pins, printed posters, clothing, bobble head dolls, and more. The registered trademarks will help the goods establish a strong reputation in the marketplace as they provide Travis Kelce the exclusive use of the marks. Registering in each of these classes would be beneficial if someone were to produce counterfeit goods, as it would strengthen Kelce’s ability to pursue legal action for infringement<\/p>\n

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Screenshot of Travis Kelce\u2019s Trademark Application from TESS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This Is Why We Can\u2019t Have Nice (Counterfeit) Things<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trademark infringement<\/a> occurs when a trademark is used without authorization in connected with goods and services, leading to confusion, deception, or mistake about the origin of the goods and services. Should someone create counterfeit goods identical to Kelce\u2019s mark(s), a federally registered trademark would help Kelce sue the producer(s) of the counterfeit goods because of the presumption of validity<\/p>\n

Kelce could also have a claim for trademark dilution<\/a> if the counterfeit goods with the mark diminish the strength or value of the mark. However, for federal trademark dilution, the mark needs to be famous, which might be heard to establish if it\u2019s a new mark.<\/p>\n

Ain\u2019t No Use Defending Words that You Will Never Say <\/strong><\/p>\n

Once Kelce\u2019s trademarks are registered, he will need to continue to use the marks in commerce and have them remain distinctive for them to remain alive. Even though trademarks do not have expiration dates, the registration must be maintained for the mark to retain its federal registration. This means Kelce (or his lawyers) will have to provide photographic evidence of the marks being used in commerce for the registration to be used as well as paying maintenance fees<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But is all this work worth it just to have a federally registered trademark? It depends! If you want exclusive use of a mark, you should register your mark. If you are concerned about counterfeiting, fraud, and infringement, you should register your mark. When in doubt, it is typically a safe and sound option to register your mark, both for the commercial benefits and defensive purposes.<\/p>\n

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Taylor Swift performing Enchanted during the Eras Tour, Houston Night 3, Photo by Ashton Duke.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Is It Over Now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although Travis Kelce is on the older end of players in the NFL, I don\u2019t see his American glory fading before me any time soon. These trademarks are likely a sign that he is taking his off-field pursuits to new heights. It looks like we can look forward to a lot of Travis Kelce merchandise and seemingly cereal!<\/p>\n

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\nAshton Duke
\nPublication Editor
\nLoyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D. 2024<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Knew He Was a Killer, First Time that I Saw Him Eight Pro Bowls. Four First-Team All-Pro Awards. Three Second-Team All-Pro Awards. Two Super-Bowl Championships. One Podcast. We know all too well that Travis Kelce is one of the most accomplished football players in the NFL. From his accomplishments on field to his recent endeavors off-field like his podcast, New Heights, Travis Kelce has accomplished … Continue reading Killer Trademarks<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":3895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fun-facts","category-trademarks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3124"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4178,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3124\/revisions\/4178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}