Even When Trademark Is Done Right, It's Hilarious

from the mascots-gone-rogue dept

Mon, Aug 5th 2013 7:20pm — Timothy Geigner

Upon searching our site, to my surprise, we've actually discussed the intersection of trademark law and sports team mascots in the past. There was the University of Oregon's duck mascot, who looked a bit too much like Disney's Donald Duck for the company's taste, though it ended up dropping its trademark claim. Or there was the time that automaker Dodge went after a high school that copied its logo for their team mascot. While neither case seemed particularly necessary or a good use of anyone's time, they also lacked the kind of true hilarity that aggressive trademark protection, even when entirely understandable, can produce. For that, you need a company or organization that is so brain-addled from at least a century of successlessness that they'd take a minor trademark dispute and not only go way beyond a reasonable effort to protect its good name, but would also do so with an in-person exchange best suited for a bad comedy movie.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Chicago Cubs. The Cubbies, for those of you who don't know this, are one of only a few Major League Baseball teams that don't have a team mascot. Or, rather, they don't have an official team mascot. What they had, however, was a weirdo named Jon Paul Weier, who dressed up in a bear suit and team uniform as "Billy Cub" (groan). That is, they had Billy Cub until recently, when the team sent him a 100-page cease-and-desist letter ordering him to suspend all mascotting duties.

Citing allegations of trademark infringement, the League sent Weier a 100-plus page letter, ordering him to stop wearing the Billy Cub costume, and engaging in “unabated Mascot Activities.”

Now, before we all get up in arms about how Weir should be defended from the rich, evil Cubs, let me expand on my earlier indication that Weier is a strange guy. Fans have complained that Billy Cub occasionally enjoys following anyone who snaps a photo of him in public with demands for tips. Also, he sometimes like to use ethnic slurs and foul language. These complaints have commonly come with the indication that Billy Cub is an official team-sanctioned mascot. In other words, this is trademark protection done right.

But being on the right side of intellectual property protection doesn't mean the Cubs aren't behaving with a silliness more typical of a Monty Python sketch. A 100-page letter? For a jackass in a costume? Oh, and it gets even better.

After consulting with a lawyer, [Weier] ignored it. And the next day, he said he was confronted by a Cubs executive.

“Someone came up to me, very angry, and said, ‘Did you not get our letter?’ ”

Problem was, Weier was in costume and in character at the time. And since Billy doesn’t speak, he says he just stood there, gesturing and shrugging, as the executive in question got angrier.

It's hard to imagine a scene more funny than a Chicago Cubs executive vociferously arguing with a pantomiming grown man in a bear costume. In the end, yes, Billy Cub should go away, but there has to be a better way to spend Cubs employees' time than writing novellas to racist bear-men and engaging in one-sided arguments with them to boot.

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Filed Under: billy cub, chicago cubs, jon paul weier, mascots, trademark

27 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2013 @ 7:47pm

Well this is the Cubs we are talking about, the elitist team in baseball. And by elite I mean the only professional sports team, in any sport, to have not won a championship in over 100 years.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2013 @ 7:48pm

Just about right
for a sport that just recently realized that some of their players just might use performance enhancing drugs. And all the current hand ringing for AROD, please I would guess he just might have saved a few shekels and will be fine. The MLB used AROD and others like him to rebuild the fan base while ignoring drug abuse for many years, now suddenly are outraged that such a thing could occur right under their noses. If he had not been a celebrity and caught with crack cocaine he could have doing a dime hard time. Save your sympathy for someone deserving, maybe Ed Snowden. You don't need to follow the herd, pick your heroes.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2013 @ 8:19pm

I guess Billy was in violation of the stadium's dress code.
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RD, 5 Aug 2013 @ 8:58pm

Re: Just about right
"Just about right for a sport that just recently realized that some of their players just might use performance enhancing drugs."

Well, the Cubs are in the clear then. They haven't won a damn thing in over 100 YEARS, so they can't be juicing. Either that, or they are even a fail at CHEATING.
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Anon, 5 Aug 2013 @ 9:21pm

Billy Cub should go away...???
Why? The cubs have no copyright on bear costumes. If they did, I'm sure several other teams would have a say about that. As for the Cubs uniform - I bet on any given Sunday (or any day!) there are thousands of people in the stadium wearing cubs shirts and even complete Cubs player outfits which were... (wait for it!) ... sold to them by the Cubs themselves or their official distributors. I bet there are even guys who lift up their shirts to reveal (unauthorized) team logos painted on their bellies, unless Cubs fans are known for their sedate demeanor.

So really, what's the problem? Is it his bad behaviour? That's the answer. If he tells fans he's *the* official mascot (misrepresents status), or harasses them, then he can be given the boot, same as you or I if we were to do so. If he does not, what right do the Cubs have to stop an enthusiastic fan?

The logo issue is not so much ludicrous as ludicrously wrong.
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Lorpius Prime (profile), 5 Aug 2013 @ 9:52pm

"Racist bear-men" is a fun term. I hope to see it again some day, perhaps as the title of a comedy photo album.
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BS Simon (profile), 5 Aug 2013 @ 10:17pm

They are just playing it safe.
A 100 page C&D may seem like overkill but remember what happened with Billy the Goat. It has been 68 years since The Curse started, and they don't want to add another.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2013 @ 11:01pm

Re: Billy Cub should go away...???
Even if element A and element B don't infringe when appear individually, combine that may be infringing.

Take the logo of having the shadow of Steve Jobs inside an Apple for example.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Aug 2013 @ 11:27pm

Re: Racist bear-men
Or perhaps a calender?
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2013 @ 2:20am

This guy in the pedo-bear outfit sounds weird and scary.
I hope he doesn't assert his second amendment right....
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2013 @ 2:55am

Maybe he's like the Black White Supremacist.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 6 Aug 2013 @ 3:53am

Re: Billy Cub should go away...???
"So really, what's the problem? Is it his bad behaviour? That's the answer. If he tells fans he's *the* official mascot (misrepresents status), or harasses them, then he can be given the boot, same as you or I if we were to do so. If he does not, what right do the Cubs have to stop an enthusiastic fan?"

Hey, I'm usually all about smacking down aggressive trademark protection, but this guy is in a Bear suit (a cub, in other words), with a jersey and hat and "Billy Cub" splayed across the back. The racist behavior and pressuring people for "tips" when they take a picture would likely be enough to warrant a trademark claim for the team, but the fact that most of the complaints come with the question of why the Cubs would allow an OFFICIAL team mascot to do this kind of thing cement the customer confusion.

This isn't an enthusiastic fan. He's out there for the money. Case in point, he's currently campaigning to be become the team's official mascot on radio stations...as Billy Cub.
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Ninja (profile), 6 Aug 2013 @ 4:04am

Well, to bring the stooge factor up a notch mr Weier (that sounds a lot like wiener) could have slapped the executive with the 100-page cease and desist letter. Still it must have been fun to watch. Do we have video footage of the incident?
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2013 @ 4:21am

I don't know, this seems apropos
Having been in the Wrigley Field bleachers in September when the Cubs are 4,124 games out of first place, I think a callous, angry, demanding, swearing bear is just about right. Now all he needs is a bottle of bourbon to swig from and he'll be perfect.
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boomslang, 6 Aug 2013 @ 4:51am

please tell me you have a link to video of Billy Cub arguing, in character, with the exec.
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RyanNerd (profile), 6 Aug 2013 @ 5:17am

TLDNR
100 PAGES. REALLY? I guess the cub's lawyers must have felt that the more wordy their letter the more cash they would get.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2013 @ 5:36am

From your description this sounds like some bum dressed up in a half ass costume assaulting people in front of the stadium for a handout.

If the above is true then the best approach may be to sent him to county for 6 months for fraud and panhandling at the start of each season.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2013 @ 8:16am

How did he ask for tips?
How did he ask for tips? Would he pantomime the request? I thought he didn't talk while he was in bearacter.
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Michael, 6 Aug 2013 @ 8:44am

Re: Re: Billy Cub should go away...???
he's currently campaigning to be become the team's official mascot on radio stations...as Billy Cub

Ok, now that is funny. What you are telling me is that a character that looks like a bear but does not make any noise is campaigning to be the official mascot on the radio?

Does he come with crickets chirping, or are they extra?
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Michael, 6 Aug 2013 @ 8:45am

Re: Re: Racist bear-men
Just be careful of the spelling or we could end up with 12 months of pale men wearing nothing but white hoods.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2013 @ 10:20am

Re: How did he ask for tips?
1) *Pats you on shoulder to get your attention*

2) *Holds hand out for money*

3) ????

4) *PROFIT!*
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2013 @ 10:24am

Re:
I hope he doesn't hurt anyone with his bear arms!
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2013 @ 10:26am

Re: Billy Cub should go away...???
You're confusing copyright and trademark. Copyright is a matter of owning the distribution of content. There is no claim for that here because Billy Cub is made by Jon Paul Weier, so he would own the copyright for that character.

However trademark (which is the claim here) is about confusing fans into thinking he's affiliated with the team. If people associate some of the things Billy Cub does with the Cubs baseball club, they could potentially value the Cubs (especially the ballpark experience) less than they already would.

Combine that with the fact that Billy Cub is trying to be the "team's offical mascot on radio stations" (DH), and him asking people for money and he's obviously trying to profit off an association with the Cubs.

This is an actual legitimate use of excersizing trademark rights (other than the 100-page C&D) as noted in the article.
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IAmNotYourLawyer (profile), 6 Aug 2013 @ 10:29am

Re: Billy Cub should go away...???
1. The claim is trademark infringement, not copyright. The Cubs logo is certainly trademarked, and the uniform might be.

2. The essence of a trademark infringement claim is consumer confusion- that is, are people mistakenly attributing the trademark owner as the source or endorser of something. In this case, if people believe "Billy Cub" is the official team mascot, then the Cubs have a decent claim at trademark infringement.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2013 @ 10:32am

Screw Trademark Law
To hell with trademark law, this issue could have easily been handled via private property rights. If the property owner of the stadium doesn't want an individual on the property, then don't allow him on the property. It's as easy as that.

There's no need to bring in anti-property "law" backd by State force/aggression/violence (or threat thereof), in this case trademark law, to handle the issue.

I prefer consensual relationships and voluntary exchange.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 6 Aug 2013 @ 11:12am

Re: Re: Re: Billy Cub should go away...???
Sigh, he goes on the radio out of character, as Mark Waid....
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Anin, 6 Aug 2013 @ 11:48am

Not trademark
Since they don't have a bear mascot, or a cute bear-in-a-cubs-uniform logo, how is it trademark confusion/infringement? If the guy is busy campaigning, it's hard to imagine the average reasonably informed fan being confused, if he's being bombarded by messages that the Billy Cub ain't?

(If some guy dressed up as a bell wrapped in a taco, could Taco Bell sue? )

The real problem is misbehaviour. If the terms on the ticket, posted on the wall, and everywhere else don't say "no soliciting"; if the rules don't allow them to give obnoxious fans, however dressed, the heave ho for bad behaviour...

Then the problem is not Billy, it's the fact that a building full of high-paid PR people and lawyers can't figure out how to get rid of an obnoxious fan.

Considering what lawyers cost, it's cheaper to pay a security guy to follow Billy and give him the heave-ho on the first sign of harassment; it's also cheaper to hire some guy to follow Billy around with a sign "Do not feed the bear" and "No affiliation with our club". You could probably pay a guy to do this for 2 seasons on what it cost to pay a lawyer to write 100 pages.

If expensive PR guys can't figure out how to kibosh an obnoxious wannabee's campaign to be official mascot - maybe they are serious losers... oh, wait, it *is* the cubs isn't it?
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