Trademarks

Bow To The Brow: Consensus No. 1 Draft Pick Anthony Davis Trademarks Brow Phrases

Published June 26, 2012

Consensus No. 1 NBA Draft pick Anthony Davis “trademarked the phrases ‘Fear The Brow’ and ‘Raise The Brow’ earlier this month,” according to Darren Rovell of CNBC. Davis said, “I don’t want anyone to try to grow a unibrow because of me and then try to make money off of it. Me and my family decided to trademark it because it’s very unique.” Davis said that the only endorsement deal he "has signed so far is a draft night deal with Sprint, pitching the company’s watch live app." Asked if a razor company "could pay him to shave off his unibrow," Davis said that "that’s not going to happen" (CNBC.com, 6/25).

DEFENSE AND OFFENSE: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir noted Knicks G Jeremy Lin in February “filed to register a trademark for Linsanity with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.” The plan to trademark Linsanity “formed quickly inside Lin’s legal and marketing team.” Arent Fox Partner Pamela Deese said, “We laid out a strategy and moved forward with it in 36 hours.” The trademark would “provide him with legal protection against others who wanted to stamp, sew or print the Linsanity name on their merchandise.” Deese: “We wouldn’t want marks like these if there were no business to be made. But we wouldn’t want them hanging out with someone else, either. It’s defense, but it’s also a good offense” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/24).

HOME OF THE BRAVE? BLOOMBERG NEWS' Victoria Slind-Flor reported the Braves are in “settlement talks with Walt Disney Co. over a disputed trademark registration.” Disney’s film “Brave" was released in the U.S. this month, and in “anticipation of merchandise opportunities connected to the film, Disney filed 14 applications to register ‘Brave’ as a trademark for a wide range of goods.” The MLB team “objected to Disney’s attempt to register the mark for use with a variety of food items, including ice cream, frozen yogurt, snack foods, meat, poultry and processed fruits and vegetables.” The team said that consumers "might be confused about the source of ‘Brave’ branded food products Disney might sell” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 6/25).