Patriots Trademark 19-0?

By now it would seem that virtually everyone knows of the enormous upset pulled off by the New York Giants against the New England Patriots (17-14) in the Super Bowl on Sunday.  As soon as I saw Bill Belichick, the Coach for the New England Patriots, who I have taken to calling Belicheat, I knew the Patriots were in trouble.  He always wears a gray hoody, but for some reason he decided to tempt fate and wear a red one for the biggest game of the year, and what could have been the biggest game of his life.  You see, the New England Patriots were trying to become only the second team to ever complete an NFL season undefeated and with a championship.  Athletes can be very superstitious, so this seemed a particularly odd thing to do.

In any event, not only did the Patriots lose, but believe it or not, more than two weeks before Super Bowl XLII the New England Patriots filed a United States Trademark Application on both “19-0” and “19-0 The Perfect Season.”  Not to be deterred though, and just a little bit insulted that the Patriots would be so overly confident, the New York Post filed their own trademark application on “18-1.” 

Here is what the NY Post had to say for themselves:

[T]he Pats have the wrong number.  The Post, ever confident that Eli Manning and company will squash the Pats on Sunday, spent $375 for its own trademark application yesterday – on “18-1.” Our application, No. 77385477, is pending.

So what does this tell us?  First, and for football fans most importantly, the New England Patriots arrogantly taunted the football gods and the football gods responded!  Second, assuming Chuck Bennett, the author of the NY Post article explaining the Post’s actions, is correct the New York Post filed a paper application with the United States Trademark Office. 

So how do I know that the Post filed a paper application?  Trademark application fees vary between $275 and $375.  If you file a paper application the filing fee for a single class is $375.  If you file online using the Trademark Electronic Application System, more commonly referred to as TEAS, the filing fee for a single class is either $325 or $275, depending upon how whether you are willing to accept the stricter requirements or not.  For example, you can only submit an application for $275 per class if you are able to submit a completed application, you upload all necessary files at the time of application, you select the classification, you agree to submit responses to the Trademark Office through the TEAS system and you agree to receive communications via e-mail.  For more on this see Selection of Application Type.

For more information about how to file a US Trademark Application see Applying for a Trademark in the US.