The Kansas City Chief will win the Super Bowl for the third year in a row on Sunday, aiming to become the first team to strip off the Super Bowl “three Petes.”
Of course, they need to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles. If so, if they want to celebrate with a cap and t-shirt decorated with “3 Pete”, they must agree with Pat Reilly, the person who owns the trademark for that expression.
That's because Riley, who was once the head coach of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, strongly believed that his team would win three consecutive championships in 1987, 1988 and 1989.
His team won two consecutive championships before registering “three peats” in various forms with the US Patent and Trademark Office. His application was approved, but the Lakers lost in the 1989 NBA Finals.
He had his own “three peat” chance when he coached the Miami Heat championships in 2012 and 2013, but the Heat was lost in the 2014 NBA Finals.
He personally did not use “3 peats,” but Riley still owns commercial rights to the phrase. According to the patent and trademark office, his registration is the use of “3 peats” in hats, jackets, shirts, energy drinks, flavored water, computer bags, sunglasses, backpacks, bumper stickers, decals, posters, mugs and more. It covers the following.
To qualify as a trademark, the word must be known to be unique. With registration, the owner will benefit from the goods as protection against others who want to stamp, sew and print those words.
Riley won the licensing fee when another NBA team, the Chicago Bulls, completed two three-peats in the 1990s. When the New York Yankees won three straight World Series in 1998, 1999 and 2000. And when the Lakers won the NBA Championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Most of the money — a modest amount calculated at the wholesale price of the item — was given to the charity, Riley said.
Below are other catchphrases from the familiar and forgotten world of sports, approved for federal trademark protection.
“I'm going for money”
Many Americans are wiped out in the spirit of the Olympics, but it is important to note that they try to profit from the game.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee owns many federal trademark registrations for phrases, including “Team USA”, “Future Olympian”, “Go for the Gold”, “Gold for the Gold”, and “The Beginning of the Letty Game”. Masu.
They also have a jump start at the 2028 Summer Olympics, with “The Road to Los Angeles”, “The Road to Los Angeles” and “The Road to Los Angeles 2028” already registered.
“Refusing to lose”
Like Riley, another confident basketball coach envisioned a championship season and moved to legally protect the catchphrases he believed would gain traction.
John Calipari, head coach of the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team from 1988 to 96, “refusing to lose” at a postgame press conference and in 1993, federal government was entitled to use in t-shirts and sweatshirts. I've registered with.
Other coaches and teams used rhyme phrases, but Calipari's team mostly followed their motto, losing modestly after registering. It became the title of one of his books. After he left Massachusetts, he allowed the university to use the phrases for free, but collected external licensing fees for himself.
“You can't be serious.”
“The ball was out. You can't be serious, man. You can't be serious!”
John McEnroe cried out all this as part of a tilade at the chair umpire at the 1981 Wimbledon Tennis Championship. He also called the judge “the pit of the world.”
He won seven Grand Slam single titles, but he had a reputation for his fierce demeanor in the courts. When McEnroe released his memoir in 2002, the title was of course “You Can't Be Serious.” He immediately applied for a trademark. (There was no exclamation point at the end, but it should have been.)
“They are the people we thought they were.”
After the NFL's Arizona Cardinals give up a 20-point lead in the game and lose to the Chicago Bears in “Monday Night Football” (it itself is trademarked by the NFL), the Cardinals head coach has been between fist pounds I went wild. A profanity rant was made at a press conference after the match on October 16th, 2006.
“But they're the ones we thought! And we let them off the hook!” said Dennis Green, normally mild, before raiding.
He was alive at the time, but he found a sense of humor about it, registered it with a trademark and made it available for use in beer commercials. Green, a pioneering black coach, passed away in 2016.
“Let's get ready for the rumble.”
Boxing announcer Michael Buffer needed an introduction to liven up the fight audience.
He recalled that Ali and his trainer Drew Bundini Brown recalled that the famous routine “squeaks like a butterfly” ended with “rumble, young man, rumble.” .
“Let's prepare for the rumble” was born and the trademark was created. Buffer receives film credits. No one would say these five words in his way.
“That's a clown question, mate.”
Bryce Harper was a 19-year-old baseball genius who defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in June 2012 by him and his team, the Washington Nationals, in a game in Ontario.
Practice Mormon Harper was asked by a reporter if he would celebrate his victory with a beer. He replied: “I haven't answered it. That's a clown question, mate.”
This phrase has launched memes and online retailers are selling t-shirts. Harper quickly registered his trademark and partnered with Under Armour to create his own T-shirt.
A few days later, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid was asked about immigration, and he replied. “I don't want to answer that question. It's a clown question, mate.” It was a hip reaction at the time.
But many of the reporters in the room groaned when a White House spokesman joked during a daily media briefing two and a half years later.
The sports catchphrases, like the t-shirt they decorate, fade over time. Many trademarks expire, but if the Chief wins, the enterprising person has already submitted to register “4 peats” in various forms.
Their application is pending.
