Trademark attorney Josh Gerben put out the following tweet regarding the Washington Football Teams new name coming in February. Which Defenders has been a rumored name for the NFL franchise.
“I have assisted clients in registering 7,000+ trademarks in the US and around the world. The Washington Football Team has likely filed a trademark application for its new team name. The question is where.
There is a treaty called the Paris Convention. 178 countries signed this treaty. If a company files a trademark in 1 of the 178 countries, it may then file the same mark in any of the other countries WITHIN 6 MONTHS and get the priority date from the original filing.”
This means leagues like the XFL and USFL could hide their pending trademarks in other countries out of the watchful eye of super fans.
XFL super fan Jake Henry did some snooping and found the XFL has a pending trademark in Mexico. After more searching here at XFL News Hub, we found another XFL trademark in Canada.
The Canadian XFL trademark date of the registration was January 19th, 2021, for the “Proposed Use in CANADA” and this trademark is active. For what it is worth, the date filed for the application was June 26th 2018. The XFL did broadcast its games on TSN in 2020 so this is why the trademark exists.
- “25 – Clothing, namely, tank tops, shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, bottoms, namely, sweatpants, exercise pants, baby bottoms, bikini bottoms, pajama bottoms, and swimming suit bottoms, pants, shorts, underwear, pajamas; ties; scarves; gloves; swimwear; Halloween and masquerade costumes; footwear, namely, shoes, sneakers, slippers, flip flops; headwear, namely, hats, caps; wrist bands; bandanas
- 35 – Entertainment services, namely, a continuing subscription to a television video channel in the field of sports broadcast over the internet; Entertainment services, namely, a continuing subscription to a television audio channel in the field of football broadcast over the internet; mail order, on line retail store services and mail order catalog services, all featuring general consumer merchandise related to sports and sports teams
- 38 – Television broadcasting services; Pay-per-view television transmission services; cable television broadcasting; radio broadcasting; broadcasting radio and television programming on the Internet; information transmission featuring music, movies, news, and sports via electronic wireless communications computer networks; communication services, namely, audio and video broadcasting of radio and television programs; Television broadcasting services and provision of telecommunication access to video and audio content provided via a video on demand service via the Internet and television featuring music, movies, news, and sports; streaming of audio material featuring sports via the Internet; streaming of video material featuring movies, news, and sports via the Internet; telecommunication services, namely, transmission of news and television podcasts in the field of sports via internet; electronic transmission of digital images and photos via a global computer network; providing multiple-user access to a global computer information network for the purpose of participating in interactive polling in the field of football; wireless communications services, namely, transmission of text messages, graphics, and entertainment information in the field of music, movies, and sports to mobile phones via internet; mobile media services in the nature of electronic transmission of entertainment media featuring music, movies, news, and sports via internet
- 41 – Entertainment services in the nature of professional football games and exhibitions; providing sports and entertainment information in the field of football, movies, music, and television programs via a global computer network, mobile applications, commercial on-line computer service and by cable, satellite, television and radio; arranging and conducting athletic competitions, namely, professional football games and exhibitions; production and distribution of radio and television programs in the field of sports; entertainment services in the nature of live shows featuring football games, exhibitions, competitions, and musical and dance performances; sporting activities, namely, football skills competitions and football showcases; distribution of television programming to cable and satellite television systems; distribution of television programs for others; Entertainment services, namely, providing online electronic games; football fan club services; providing entertainment news and information in the field of sports via a website; Entertainment services in the nature of a fantasy football game; distribution of television programming to cable and satellite television systems; distribution of television programs for others”
The Mexico date of filing of the application was November 18th, 2021. This trademark is currently pending.
The translation of the filing reads.
“BROADCASTING SERVICES; TELEVISION TRANSMISSION SERVICES; CABLE BROADCAST; BROADCASTING; DIFFUSION OF PROGRAMMING ON THE INTERNET; TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION THROUGH ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS; TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION THROUGH VIDEO COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS; COMMUNICATION SERVICES, TO KNOW, DISSEMINATION OF AUDIO AND VIDEO CONTENT; DIFFUSION SERVICES AND PROVISION OF TELECOMMUNICATION ACCESS TO AUDIO AND VIDEO CONTENT PROVIDED THROUGH A VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SERVICE VIA INTERNET AND TELEVISION; TRANSMISSION OF CONTINUOUS FLOW OF DATA [STREAMING] OF AUDIO MATERIAL ON THE INTERNET; CONTINUOUS STREAMING OF DATA [STREAMING] OF VIDEO MATERIAL ON THE INTERNET; TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES, TO KNOW, THE TRANSMISSION OF PODCASTS (DOWNLOADABLE MULTIMEDIA FILES); ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF IMAGES AND PHOTOGRAPHS THROUGH A WORLDWIDE COMPUTER NETWORK; PROVISION OF ACCESS TO MULTIPLE USERS TO A WORLDWIDE COMPUTER INFORMATION NETWORK FOR THE PURPOSES OF PARTICIPATION IN INTERACTIVE VOTING RELATED TO AMERICAN FOOTBALL; WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES, TO KNOW, THE TRANSMISSION OF TEXTS, GRAPHICS, DATA AND ENTERTAINMENT INFORMATION FOR MOBILE PHONES; MOBILE MEDIA SERVICES FOR THE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF MULTIMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT.”
Another Mexico pending trademark also translated.
“CLOTHING, KNOWLEDGE, UPPER CLOTHING, SHIRTS, JACKETS, SWEATSHIRTS, LOWER CLOTHING, PANTS, SHORTS, UNDERWEAR, PAJAMAS; TIES; SCARVES; GLOVES [CLOTHING]; SWIMSUITS; COSTUMES [SUITS] FOR HALLOWEEN AND COSTUME PARTIES; FOOTWEAR, KNOWLEDGE, SHOES, SPORTS SHOES, SLIPPERS, FLIP FLOPS; ARTICLES OF HATS, TO KNOW, HATS, CAPS, HATS; BANDS FOR THE DOLLS [CLOTHING]; BANDANAS [NECK SCARF].”
Does this mean the XFL will be in Canada and Mexico in 2023? We will find out in February per The Rock’s announcement on Twitter.
This tells us that the XFL has a genuine interest in having teams and these countries. For months, XFL Chairwoman Dany Garcia has said that the XFL has global aspirations. It looks like Mexico and Canada will be where they start.
To tie this all together, remember the XFL’s job posting for the Senior Director of Ticket Operations included language for international ticket sales.
