Sports Stars Rushing To The Trademark Office: Fear The Brow & That's A Clown Question, Bro

from the fear-the-clown-brow-question-bro dept

Ah, the wonders of trademark law and sports stars. Earlier this year, we wrote about the rush to trademark "Linsanity" when afterthought point guard Jeremy Lin suddenly became an overnight sensation for the NY Knicks. In that case, a bunch of others sought the trademark, and a week or so later, Jeremy Lin himself jumped in to try to get the trademark as well. A quick search at the USPTO shows nine "live" trademarks on Linsanity (well, eight that are just "Linsanity" and one that is "Linsanity 17" -- which is Lin's uniform number). For what it's worth, it seems like only one of those marks is actually held by Jeremy Lin, and it certainly looks like there may be some overlap, so perhaps there will be some litigation at some point.

Apparently, young sports stars are very quickly learning to rush to the trademark office. Baseball phenom Bryce Harper -- at 19 already living up to the massive expectations Sports Illustrated lumped on his shoulders three years ago -- recently got some attention for telling a Canadian reporter "that's a clown question, bro" in response to a question about his favorite beer and if he was going to go out and celebrate with a beer since he's of legal drinking age in Canada (where they were playing).

The very next day, Harper filed for a trademark on "that's a clown question, bro." It almost makes you wonder if he'd been saving up that line... As of the latest search, he's the only one filing for it so far, but the link above notes that a brewery in Colorado has already brewed up a batch of beer called "Clown Question, Bro." Since Harper's application is for apparel, it's unlikely it applies to beer. Though, if it were me, I probably would have called it "Clown Question, Brew." Either way, Under Armour, the sporting goods company that Harper has a deal with already, has said that it's going to be releasing a "line" of shirts around the "clown question, bro" phrase.

Meanwhile, moving back to basketball, there's the news that NBA-bound college hoops star Anthony Davis has filed for trademarks on both "Fear the Brow" and "Raise the Brow" after his... er... "trademark" unibrow. His explanation?
“I don’t want anyone to try to grow a unibrow because of me and then try to make money off of it,” Davis told CNBC. “Me and my family decided to trademark it because it’s very unique.”
I'm not quite sure how one "tries to grow a unibrow" if they don't have one already -- and if they legitimately have one, then why is it that only Davis gets to make money from his unibrow? For what it's worth, as the article notes, the phrase has been popular for a while, surrounding his success at Kentucky, but he couldn't profit from it as that would cut into his eligibility as an amateur (cue rant about stupid college sports rules). Either way, lots of "bootleg" apparel was sold -- some of which the university tried to stop, though I'm not sure they had any legal basis for doing so in many cases. There was also one local store, Blue Zone, that sold stuff and filed for its own trademark on the phrase for apparel. There may be an issue there. Davis' trademark application is super broad in terms of what he claims it will apply to. Blue Zone's mark is just for clothing, but Davis' is for a ton of stuff, including clothing, but also fragrances, entertainment "services," water bottles, book covers, pencils, trading cards, lunch bags, facial tissues and much, much more.

Does Davis have the right to supercede Blue Zone's mark just because he's the one who has the actual unibrow?

Either way, it seems like a sign of the times, that sports stars these days are rushing to the trademark office at every opportunity to file trademarks on some identifying characteristic. I'm not sure this is a positive development.
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Filed Under: anthony davis, bryce harper, clown question, fear the brow, linsanity, uspto
Companies: nba, under armour


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  • icon
    Nick Dynice (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 9:21am

    This stuff is so ephemeral that by the time the mark is granted it is old and "so yesterday." And why would anyone want to smell like a unibrow?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Greg G (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 10:59am

      Re:

      Or, since the question was regarding beer, AND they were in Canada, that would be Unibroue.


      Try the Maudite or La Fin Du Monde

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 27 Jun 2012 @ 2:00pm

      Re:

      What is the moderation policy? Am I blocked for a while because I posted lyrics and a link to a youtube video yesterday? I just tried to say "That's a clown question, bro" and it went to the moderator. ???? The lyrics had swear words but it was an actual artist making the point that he makes more money from shows so he gives away his music. I apologize if I offened you, but I like posting here, but part of the thing as that these comments help if they are timely, which does not happen with moderation. Oh well, I guess you must moderate for moderation sake. Hope you liked the note.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Anonymous Coward of Esteemed Trolling (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 9:41am

    We should call this by what it is.. ( Ultimate Faggotry™ ® ☺ )

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    :Lobo Santo (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 9:54am

    Ah ha!

    And suddenly, I know where "memetic" came from!
    http://thosearentmuskets.com/sketches/timetravel.php

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Baldaur Regis (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 10:08am

    Dammint.

    Last time I was in Canadia, I also talked to a reporter (who told me that, by law, they are required to wear clown costumes don't you know)and replied "that's a clown question, bro". I THINK we were drinking beer at the time. Sigh. Where do I send the check?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 10:18am

    Dear Anthony Davis:

    Werewolves everywhere would like to have a word with you....

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    justok (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 10:31am

    Clown Brow.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Jun 2012 @ 10:35am

    Not Fair!

    I had my unibrow long before he did!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    gab4moi (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 10:41am

    Fear the ......

    This seems an ideal avenue for porn stars to pursue:

    'Fear the Penis!'

    'Raise the Penis!'

    and for parody porn flix:

    'Thats a clown Penis, bro'

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    The Original Anonymous Coward (profile), 27 Jun 2012 @ 11:03am

    What about Brook Shields?

    She had a unibrow years ago. She should sue.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Jun 2012 @ 11:19am

    LOL unibrow

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jeff Rife, 27 Jun 2012 @ 12:04pm

    Really stupid reporter

    The reason that Bryce Harper replied the way that he did is because the reporter had not done his homework.

    Harper is a Mormon, and thus wouldn't drink alcohol at all.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 27 Jun 2012 @ 12:26pm

      Re: Really stupid reporter

      Mormons...
      Not drinking?lololololololololololololololololololololololol etc.

      Thanks! I needed a good laugh.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Jun 2012 @ 2:50pm

    Oh great. Sports stars with forced memes. Just what the world needed.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    ebilrawkscientist (profile), 30 Jun 2012 @ 12:40pm

    Usma

    Whoa! Ladies in Tajikistan actually covet unibrows

    Gee, golly whitz. Really now? Ur unibrow = Failbuzz.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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