Sports and Branding: The Anatomy of The JOHNNY FOOTBALL Branding and Trademark Strategy

Over the past several years, the proliferation of trademark filings by athletes and their personal management companies has reflected a growing trend in sports branding that has athletes increasingly taking control of the mechanisms that make money for athletes and sports teams.  

While many sports contracts have athletes assigning over many of the rights in their personal brand to teams and sports organizations, the filing of trademark applications by athletes themselves shows how bold new strategies are working to shift the balance in this traditionally pro-team economic system. 

Below, Johnny Manziel's branding strategy is shown to focus largely on the filing of various trademarks not covered by the team owned components of an athletes personal brand (formal team jersey name).  

Because teams have no proprietary interest or ownership of nicknames for athletes, a move to shift commercial activities for sports merchandising has athletes squarely in charge of these new profit generating promotion and sales activities. 

• Johnny Manziel (JOHNNY FOOTBALL) Files His 10th Trademark Application with the USPTO for the Trademark JOHNNY CLEVELAND
• JOHNNY FOOTBALL Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application
• Status:  Suspension Letter Issued on December 31, 2013
• JMAN2 Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application
• Status:  Notice of Allowance Issued on June 24, 2014
• JMAN Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application

• Status:  Notice of Allowance Issued on June 24, 2014
• JIIM Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application
• Status:  Notice of Allowance issued on July 1, 2014
• MANZIEL Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application
• Status:  March 25, 2014 - Office Action Issued For:
• Surname Refusal
• False Connection with a Living Individual
• Because Applicant is a Corporation, It Cannot Claim To Be An Individual in the Manner Necessary to Make a Valid Claim to the Manziel Surname
  
• JFF Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application
• Status:  Notice of Allowance issued on July 1, 2014
• THE HOUSE THAT JOHNNY BUILT Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application
• Status:  Suspension Letter Issued on March 19, 2014 RE: Prior Pending Trademark Application That is a Potential 2(d) Conflict with Applicant's Mark 
• Prior Pending Application THE HOUSE THAT JOHNNY BUILT (Applicant: Fitch Estate Sales)  
• U.S. Trademark Application Ser. No. 86/153461
• Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application

• Status:  Notice of Allowance Issued on July 1, 2014
• Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application
• Status:  Office Action issued on March 25, 2014
• Surname Refusal
• False Connection with a Living Individual
• Because Applicant is a Corporation, It Cannot Claim To Be An Individual in the Manner Necessary to Make a Valid Claim to the Manziel Surname
•  JOHNNY CLEVELAND Class 025 (Apparel) Trademark Application

USPTO Video No. 4: Applicant Information

This part of the Trademark Application process often strikes both 

novice Applicants and seasoned IP attorneys as the most simple part of the 

application; however, it never surprises me how often I hear of refusals resulting 

from the information requested in this section of the application. 

For help with a U.S. Trademark Application or a subsequent Office Action,

feel free to contact Brand Ventures IP for a FREE CONSULTATION.