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Bills File Trademark application on BillsMafia

MAJBobby

By MAJBobby
in The Stadium Wall Archives

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Hapless Bills Fan
Message added by Hapless Bills Fan

From Del Reid:

 

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Big Turk Hall of Famer

Big Turk

Posted
Posted
  On 10/16/2020 at 3:55 PM, C.Biscuit97 said:

Honestly, it’s completely garbage. Reid is a great dude and does a ton for charity (and they have awesome gear, support them).  He helped create it And the Bills are trying to steal it from them.

 

i really hope there is more to this story because the Bills look like a greedy, scumbag organization right now. 

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Couldn't he sue them since he has already been using this for a long time? I thought there was some legal case I saw where it was overturned since they weren't the original owners of the phrase.

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C.Biscuit97
C.Biscuit97

Honestly, it’s completely garbage. Reid is a great dude and does a ton for charity (and they have awesome gear, support them).  He helped create it And the Bills are trying to steal it from them.

aristocrat
aristocrat

why didn't del already have the copyright?

blitzboy54
blitzboy54

Sorry, Eff the Bills hard on this one. That’s some greedy nonsense. 

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NoSaint Hall of Famer

NoSaint

Posted
Posted
  On 10/16/2020 at 4:19 PM, ChevyVanMiller said:

Del Reid and the boys coinEd the term, they should get the rights. The Billsare off base on this one.

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will the bills allow use of “bills-anything people want to come up with in association with the team” though?

Hapless Bills Fan Hall of Famer

Hapless Bills Fan

Posted
Posted
  On 10/16/2020 at 5:08 PM, matter2003 said:

 

Couldn't he sue them since he has already been using this for a long time? I thought there was some legal case I saw where it was overturned since they weren't the original owners of the phrase.

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The problem would be certainly the Bills have a trademark for the use of the word "Bills" as a football team, and therefore, can someone else trademark a phrase that includes that?

Nextmanup Hall of Famer

Nextmanup

Posted
Posted
  On 10/16/2020 at 5:08 PM, JustWinPlease said:

I don't get all the fuss about this...if the "Bills Mafia" people wanted it, they should have filed for the trademark years ago.

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And who exactly are the "Bills mafia people?"

 

You mean like the world at large, throwing this (unlikable) term around for the last 5 or 7 years?

 

 

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PromoTheRobot Hall of Famer

PromoTheRobot

Posted
Posted
  On 10/16/2020 at 5:10 PM, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

The problem would be certainly the Bills have a trademark for the use of the word "Bills" as a football team, and therefore, can someone else trademark a phrase that includes that?

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If they don't it threatens their trade mark.

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Nextmanup Hall of Famer

Nextmanup

Posted
Posted
  On 10/16/2020 at 5:08 PM, NoSaint said:


will the bills allow use of “bills-anything people want to come up with in association with the team” though?

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A trademark is an indicator of source of goods or services, for the most part.  That's it.  

 

The Bills are simply trying to use the term "BILLS MAFIA" (words only) in one application, and the words + stylized mark in another application, as an indicator of source for a variety of clothing items.


That's it.

 

I.E., they intend to sell clothing emanating from a "Bills Mafia" brand, so to speak, or a model line of clothing under the mark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MAJBobby Hall of Famer

MAJBobby

Posted
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Posted (edited)
  On 10/16/2020 at 5:17 PM, Nextmanup said:

A trademark is an indicator of source of goods or services, for the most part.  That's it.  

 

The Bills are simply trying to use the term "BILLS MAFIA" (words only) in one application, and the words + stylized mark in another application, as an indicator of source for a variety of clothing items.


That's it.

 

I.E., they intend to sell clothing emanating from a "Bills Mafia" brand, so to speak, or a model line of clothing under the mark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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And the exact same thing that Texas A&M did with 12th Man.  That the Bills then had to Pay Texas A&M a licensing fee to use it.  If you dont think the Bills would demand licensing fees from other apparel companies, I have some swamp land for sale.

Edited by MAJBobby
Nextmanup Hall of Famer

Nextmanup

Posted
Posted
  On 10/16/2020 at 5:17 PM, Mr. WEO said:

Someone involved with “BillsMafia”  should have anticipated this and trademarked it first.  

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And who would that be, exactly?

 

This is just a societally created term of art that has floated out there in the public domain for years.


The Bills were simply the first entity to come along and use it as a trademark, at least in terms of filing for federal TM registration.


Someone may be using it right now, and preparing to bring an opposition proceeding agains the Bills.


Their 2 applications haven't even been assigned to an examining attorney yet; the legal examination of them hasn't yet begun.

 

PS:  There is another entity out there who has filed a "BILLSMAFIA" mark for use in connection with an online message forum (like this one) about all things Buffalo, NY.

 

Shouldn't be a block to the Bills clothing apps.

 

 

  On 10/16/2020 at 5:19 PM, MAJBobby said:

And the exact same thing that Texas A&M did with 12th Man.  That the Bills then had to Pay Texas A&M a licensing fee to use it.  If you dont think the Bills would demand licensing fees from other apparel companies, I have some swamp land for sale.

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I'm a TM attorney who has practiced for over 20 years.


Thanks for the information.

 

 

 

 

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Mr. WEO Hall of Famer

Mr. WEO

Posted
Posted
  On 10/16/2020 at 5:20 PM, Nextmanup said:

And who would that be, exactly?

 

This is just a societally created term of art that has floated out there in the public domain for years.


The Bills were simply the first entity to come along and use it as a trademark, at least in terms of filing for federal TM registration.


Someone may be using it right now, and preparing to bring an opposition proceeding agains the Bills.


Their 2 applications haven't even been assigned to an examining attorney yet; the legal examination of them hasn't yet begun.

 

PS:  There is another entity out there who has filed a "BILLSMAFIA" mark for use in connection with an online message forum (like this one) about all things Buffalo, NY.

 

Shouldn't be a block to the Bills clothing apps.

 

 

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posters above mentioned several guys who seemed to have originated the concept/term.   Any of them could have trademarked “Bills Mafia”, no.

HOUSE Hall of Famer

HOUSE

Posted
Posted (edited)

This is great, the added copyright revenue and sale of bogus Chinese  shirts will help lower ticket prices..

Maybe we can attend games for free next year..

Edited by HOUSE
Nextmanup Hall of Famer

Nextmanup

Posted
Posted
  On 10/16/2020 at 5:22 PM, Mr. WEO said:


posters above mentioned several guys who seemed to have originated the concept/term.   Any of them could have trademarked “Bills Mafia”, no.

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And they still can bring a variety of inter partes proceedings against the Bills as a filer of the applications, if they believe they have grounds for doing so.  For example, opposing the applications and exerting a superior right of some type, like earlier use.

 

There is a huge amount of misunderstanding and bad information in this thread; needless to say, folks aren't going to comprehensively understand the rudiments of TM law in a few one sentence posts on a message forum.

 

The only "story" here is that the Bills are preparing to market a line of clothing under a "BILLS MAFIA" mark.

 

That's it.  

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BuffaloMatt Veteran

BuffaloMatt

Posted
Posted

I have never been too fond of its use.   

 

Ma·fi·a
/ˈmäfēə/
noun
  1. an organized international body of criminals, operating originally in Sicily and now especially in Italy and the US and having a complex and ruthless behavioral code.
    • any organized group using extortion and other criminal methods.
      noun: mafia; plural noun: mafias
    • a closed group of people in a particular field, having a controlling influence.
      noun: mafia
      "the conservative top tennis mafia"
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