University Of Kentucky Disputes 40-0 Trademark Owned By Someone Else While 2 Wins Away From Achieving That Record

from the confidence-is-high dept

Thu, Apr 2nd 2015 1:50pm — Timothy Geigner

For those of you that haven't been paying attention to the NCAA Men's College Basketball tournament this year, the University of Kentucky is, like, really good. The team, which entered the tournament without a loss on its record is attempting to become the first undefeated champion in several decades, the last occurring when Bobby Knight took a break from throwing chairs across the court to win it all for Indiana in 1976. They are currently two games away from achieving the first forty-and-zero season in college basketball history.

But they're already fighting trademark battles over a perfect season they have yet to attain. The school recently sent a cease and desist letter to one David Son, who has been using the "40-0" mark since 2013 and filed for a trademark back in October of that year.

That's the same time he filed for his company, 40-0 LLC, to be incorporated in the state of Kentucky before dissolving in August 2014. Records with the state show that on March 9 of this year, Son applied and was approved to have the company be reinstated and activated again.

"My client took all the steps he needed to take to establish ownership of 40-0," Son's lawyer, Brian McGraw, said. "There's no evidence that the University of Kentucky owns any rights to 40-0."

It strains credulity to suggest that the timing for the reinstatement and the potential run by the Kentucky basketball team is coincidental, and I'm unclear as to why the reinstatement of the company should be an argument over the previous abandonment of the mark. That said, two years isn't a particularly long stretch of time and, assuming Son's lawyer has done his homework, Kentucky's lack of claim to any mark makes a cease and desist overreach to say the least. Perhaps more interesting would be how this all works if Kentucky can point to some kind of trademark filing, given that the mark would consist both of an attainment the school can't yet lay claim to and that, should Kentucky indeed go 40-0, the numeric record seems to be factual information, likely undeserving of a mark in any case. As the ESPN article notes, opposition to Son's mark would seem to be the more logical reaction from the school, rather than a C&D letter.

What's strange is the accompanying remarks from Kentucky's legal team.

"We are well aware of third parties attempting to capitalize on the historic season of the University of Kentucky men's basketball team," said Jim Aronowitz, general counsel for Fermata Partners. "As the University's licensing agent, we are working to vigorously protect UK's trademark rights in the marketplace from those that use the institution's indicia without permission."

Except the history hasn't been made yet, counselor. Not that such prospective hubris is without precedent. The New England Patriots wanted to trademark "19-0" even after they failed to run the NFL table several years back. Is this a simple matter of trademark "squatting," with Son, who lives in Kentucky and is a self-admitted Kentucky basketball fan, realizing the likely outcome here? Sure, probably, though that claim is made more problematic given the years-old history of Son's mark. Still, factual information is factual information.

The two easiest ways to resolve this? Well, the school can file an opposition to the mark instead of sending off threat letters, or they could simply lose one of these next two games. Then there would be nothing to fight over.

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Filed Under: 40-0, kentucky, sports, trademark
Companies: university of kentucky

22 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2015 @ 2:11pm

We're talking about trademarking a ratio correct?

Well then why don't they trademark the version that displays ratios correctly instead of using a dash?

40:0
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RD, 2 Apr 2015 @ 2:22pm

"Legal Grounds"
"Well, you see, our legal grounds are that we are a Big Ten college and that guy is just some average schmo. *Obviously* we should be granted the mark, since the laws are there to protect our interests, and not some little guy's. Why are we even discussing this??"
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RD, 2 Apr 2015 @ 2:25pm

Re:
No, the statistic its a win/loss record. The common usage is wins *dash* loses. It's not a ratio. It also should never be granted as a trademark, as any pair of numbers separated by a dash should be considered too common to be granted protection. Now, if they wanted to do something like "Kentucky 40-0!" or something that might pass as a more unique phrase, that might be different.
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mowgs (profile), 2 Apr 2015 @ 2:42pm

Isn't this a tennis score?
Surprised all the Grand Slam tennis tournaments aren't contesting this too. Forty-Love (40-0) is called all the time in tennis so how can Kentucky suddenly decide this needs to be trademarked. Oh yes, because they can!
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Zonker, 2 Apr 2015 @ 3:15pm

Re: Isn't this a tennis score?
Forty-Love sounds like a perfect name for a dating website that provides matches to forty year old clients. David Son, if you build it they will come.
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Roger Strong (profile), 2 Apr 2015 @ 3:26pm

The Universal Tool
Another alternative: The NCAA arranges a 41st game, so that the school gets a 41-0 record.

40-0 LLC's foreign investors then use investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) rules to sue the federal government for their investment losses caused by this change.
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drjimmy (profile), 2 Apr 2015 @ 3:42pm

All one has to do is to look at who Kentucky elects into office and that tells you everything.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2015 @ 3:52am

Hopefully the Badgers will make this little marks issue moot...
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Jeff Green (profile), 3 Apr 2015 @ 4:23am

Speaking of silly trademarks ...
As a British subject I strongly object to the University of Kentucky infringing on our will known and historically important UK mark. We are quite capable of our own stupidity without someone else trying to usurp our interests.
Where do we go to sue ...
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Chris ODonnell (profile), 3 Apr 2015 @ 5:22am

As if I needed another reason to root against KY this weekend.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2015 @ 7:00am

It will be interesting to see what Son does with his company if Kentucky loses.
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 3 Apr 2015 @ 7:23am

Forty?
I just want to point out that the UConn women's team went 90-0.
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Oblate (profile), 3 Apr 2015 @ 8:20am

Well if they're going to act like that
I hope that if they do lose* a game, that their opponent has already trademarked the term "39-1".

*not actually rooting for or against
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RedGreenBlue, 3 Apr 2015 @ 10:12am

40 and 0
Here's another problem for Kentucky. If the team goes undefeated, it won't be "the first forty-and-zero season in college basketball history," it will be the third since the Baylor University and University of Connecticut women's teams already accomplished the feat in 2012 and 2014, respectively. And shame on ESPN.com for overlooking this fact.

I think Baylor and UConn should be getting ready to put their own cease-and-desist letters in the mail, addressed to the University of Kentucky.
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Mike C. (profile), 3 Apr 2015 @ 10:57am

Re: 40 and 0
Actually, it may not even be third...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_winning_streaks
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RedGreenBlue, 3 Apr 2015 @ 11:35am

40 and 0
There certainly have been longer college basketball winning streaks, but in this case 40-0 refers only to a 'perfect' season, ending in a national championship. There also have been other undefeated champions, such as Indiana's men's team, 32-0 in 1976, and the UConn women at 39-0 in each of 2009 and 2010. For all I know, there have been longer undefeated seasons in other levels of basketball, but the assumption in Kentucky's claim is Division 1 college basketball. They should have said Division 1 men's college basketball, but that's too long to be part of a snappy graphic on a best-selling tee shirt, isn't it?
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Apr 2015 @ 8:23pm

LOL 39-1 now! So it really doesn't matter! ;)
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Steve Landess (profile), 5 Apr 2015 @ 5:31am

40-0
Oops -

Now the U of Ky can file a trademark on 39-0!
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Steve Landess (profile), 5 Apr 2015 @ 5:44am

Re: 40-0
doh - I meant 39-1
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Apr 2015 @ 9:17am

Re: Re: 40-0
Doh again! 38-1... they didn't make it to the 40th game, thanks to my Badgers!
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afn29129 (profile), 5 Apr 2015 @ 12:07pm

Tucky Lost !!
So much for the arrogant conceitedness of Kuntucky.

Still want the 40-0 trademark Kentucky? LOL
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Steve Landess (profile), 5 Apr 2015 @ 12:52pm

Re: Re: Re: 40-0
Ok. I'm an ID10T.
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