{"id":63031,"date":"2025-12-07T01:36:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T01:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/63031\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T01:36:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T01:36:18","slug":"nfl-team-shrugs-off-trademark-tussle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/63031\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Team Shrugs Off Trademark Tussle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIt\u2019s Gotham week for the New York Jets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Sunday, the NFL<\/a> team will wear its Gotham City Football uniforms for the first time, donning a new jersey that features a \u201cGotham Green\u201d colorway and the phrase stamped on the back of each helmet. Five days later, perhaps by coincidence, the team faces a deadline in its ongoing quest to trademark the nickname.<\/p>\n

Like the 2025 season, that process has so far provided few victories for the team. As Sportico detailed in July, the USPTO denied the team\u2019s application<\/a>, made through the NFL, which seeks trademark protection for T-shirts, hoodies, caps and other apparel. That followed months of back-and-forth between lawyers and the U.S. government. In late August, the team was granted a three-month extension to appeal that denial. The new deadline is Dec. 12.<\/p>\n

\n\tRepresentatives for the NFL and the Jets didn\u2019t respond to questions about whether they intend to file an appeal by the deadline.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Jets don\u2019t appear deterred by the lack of trademark registration. For years, they\u2019ve used Gotham City Football on sideline apparel and other merchandise, some of which is available for purchase<\/a> by fans. Sunday\u2019s jerseys<\/a> are their version of the league\u2019s Rivalries uniform program, which allows teams to design an alternative look to wear against one divisional opponent.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt quickly became evident that Gotham City Football was an obvious direction for us to take with the Rivalry uniform,\u201d Chris Pierce, the team\u2019s vice president of fan commerce, said when the plan was unveiled this summer. That announcement came on Aug. 28; the three-month extension was signed by the NFL\u2019s lawyer on Aug. 29.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe USPTO\u2019s rejection, categorized as a \u201cfinal action,\u201d was primarily based on Gotham City being understood as a physical location\u2014New York City. Generally, physical locations can\u2019t be trademarked. The USPTO\u2019s denial cited additional reasons, including that consumers might be confused by Gotham City Football given the presence of the trademarked Gotham City Crew, a popular Jets fan club. There was no mention of Gotham Football Club, the NWSL team owned by the family that also owns the New York Giants.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Jets have argued that \u201cGotham City\u201d shouldn\u2019t be understood as a physical location since it is not a real place. Gotham City has been popularized by Batman, the superhero comic book launched in 1939 that spawned an IP empire of TV, cinematic and video-game properties. To that point, federal judges have referenced Gotham City as the home to Batman<\/a>, not an actual place.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the USPTO disagrees, reasoning that Gotham City was invented not by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and others who gave life to Batman but instead by writer Washington Irving, who authored The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. As the New York Public Library details<\/a>, Irving described New York City as Gotham City in a literary magazine published in 1807\u2014more than a century before Finger \u201cwas inspired by an entry in a telephone book for Gotham Jewelers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBeyond the appeal due next week, the Jets could also appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board. Four years ago, the TTAB greenlighted the registration of the \u201cRepublic of London,\u201d which like Gotham City\u2014at least in the Batman context\u2014is a fictional location. The goods sold under the Republic of London brand didn\u2019t originate from the English capital and weren\u2019t made there.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe TTAB noted that \u201cParis Beach Club<\/a>\u201d was permitted, partly because there is no such place. \u201cParis is not located on an ocean or lake, and does not have a beach,\u201d the TTAB noted, adding \u201cpurchasers would not necessarily expect T-shirts and sweatshirts so marked to originate in the city of Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEven if the Jets ultimately lose their bid to register Gotham City Football, the team could obtain other types of trademark protection. Trademark registration is valuable for a number of reasons, including a presumption of ownership and exclusive right to use a mark.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut states\u2019 laws, common law (meaning case precedent) and licensing contracts between the Jets and businesses for use of Gotham City Football on merchandise and apparel can all supply varying levels of legal protections. When the USPTO moved to cancel the Washington Redskins (Commanders) trademark on grounds it disparaged Native Americans, Washington could still rely on other sources of law to protect its brand.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Jets, however, do have historical claim to the semi-fictitious turf. Back in 1963, the then-New York Titans were acquired for $1 million by Gotham Football Club Inc. and its five shareholders, who renamed the team in honor of their field being near LaGuardia Airport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Gotham week for the New York Jets. On Sunday, the NFL team will wear its Gotham City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2680,9,24,55,54,430,22,56,2089,8888],"class_list":["post-63031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-ny","tag-washington-commanders","tag-woody-johnson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}