US Patent Office Won't Let Las Vegas A's Trademark the Name Las Vegas Athletics'

"In the words of the US Patent Office, the name is just too vague to patent, because it could mean so many things other than just a sports team. ATHLETICS means activities such as sports, exercises and games that require physical skill and stamina, the US Patent Court wrote in their ruling, according to the Times. Therefore the prior registration do not support applicant's claim of acquired distinctiveness and the claim is not accepted."

"Ever since the Oakland A's left Oakland to become the Sacramento/Las Vegas A's, their exploits both on and off the field have been a litany of hilarious embarrassments: the radio broadcast hardware in the new Sacramento ballpark has repeatedly gone on the fritz, the team ranks dead last in Major League Baseball attendance, and who can forget the time they printed up A's hats that actually said A'ss."

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected trademark applications for Las Vegas Athletics and Vegas Athletics for a second time. The PTO found ATHLETICS to be too vague because the term commonly denotes activities such as sports, exercises, and games that require physical skill and stamina, and prior registrations did not establish acquired distinctiveness. Without those trademarks, the franchise cannot prevent third parties from producing and selling Las Vegas Athletics merchandise. The franchise has also faced operational and merchandising problems, including broadcast hardware failures, dead-last MLB attendance, and hats misprinted as "A'ss."

Read at sfist.com