Bills File Trademark application on BillsMafia

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, 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. 

 

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.

[JustWinPlease]

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.

[NoSaint]

48 minutes ago, ChevyVanMiller said:

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

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

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 minute ago, 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.

 

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]

1 minute ago, 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.

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?

 

 

[PromoTheRobot]

2 minutes ago, 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?

 

If they don't it threatens their trade mark.

[Nextmanup]

6 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

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

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr. WEO]

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

[Nextmanup]

4 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

If they don't it threatens their trade mark.

That's not necessarily true.

 

As with all legal questions, the correct answer is "it all depends."

 

 

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Fans not happy 

 

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/fans-not-happy-team-filed-154142828.html

 

 

[MAJBobby]

1 minute ago, 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 October 16, 2020 by MAJBobby

[Nextmanup]

Just now, Mr. WEO said:

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

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.

 

 

1 minute ago, 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.

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

Thanks for the information.

 

 

 

 

[Mr. WEO]

1 minute ago, 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.

 

 

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

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

6 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

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

the word Bills is associated with the team. 
 It was in one of the following tweets 

[HOUSE]

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 October 16, 2020 by HOUSE

[Nextmanup]

1 minute ago, 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.

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.  

[Mr. WEO]

Just now, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

the word Bills is associated with the team. 
 It was in one of the following tweets 

So a phrase “Bills” followed by any word cannot be trademarked other than by Pegula?

[BuffaloMatt]

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"

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 minute ago, Mr. WEO said:

So a phrase “Bills” followed by any word cannot be trademarked other than by Pegula?

 

 

 

 

 

[GoBills808]

maybe he sold it to them