NFL lawyers deserve a flag
Published 12:45 pm Sunday, January 31, 2010
Ah, Super Bowl time, when the NFL warriors really step it up. The mighty ones who give 110 percent. All pin-stripe-suited-up, ready to crush the not-so-mighty.
Correct. That would be the lawyers.
As the Seattle Seahawks and their fans learned in 2006, there’s nothing like a trip to the Super Bowl to bring out litigious types of all stripes. (Texas A&M accused the Seahawks of violating the school’s “12th man” trademarks with the pro team’s “No. 12” tradition in honor of the loud Seattle fans. Because it was so silly, even for frivolous lawsuits, the request for a restraining order went nowhere. But where’s the penalty flag for filing such a motion?)
This year’s legal bowl pits NFL attorneys against anyone in Louisiana with the audacity to try and profit off the New Orleans Saints’ first trip to the registered trademarked Super Bowl. The issue: Who has the legal rights to the words: “Who Dat?” This is a shortened version of the traditional cheer of Saints fans — “Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints.” (This might be worth taking to court just to hear the attorneys try and sound all lawyerly as they utter the suddenly coveted chant.)
The NFL wants everyone but licensed NFL merchandisers to stop making T-shirts and signs with “Who Dat?” Attorneys are busy issuing cease-and-desist orders to all shops, big and small, trying to cash in on the state’s good fortune. Meanwhile, two brothers and longtime Saints fans claim they own the phrase. They say their company, WhoDat Inc., has the only federal trademark. In 1983, the brothers produced the song “Who Dat Say They Gonna Beat Dem Saints” with Aaron Neville and several Saints players.
Having the disputed words as your company’s name would seem a pretty good argument. As long as words can be trademarked, it would seem WhoDat Inc. would trump NFL merchandisers — it’s not like these are replica jerseys, after all. (Although it would be fun to see the Saints forgo ego and replace all players’ names on the back of their jerseys with Who Dat?) (Oh, dat’s No. 13.)
Pseudo legalities aside, what about the fact that the people and entrepreneurs of New Orleans and all of Louisiana deserve some good fortune? Some Voodoo that even the NFL is powerless to sanction?
Will the actual sporting event compete with such a legal thriller?
Maybe, if there’s a miracle, complete with a Hail Mary pass (registered trademark), because all the oddsmakers say dat dem Colts gonna beat dem Saints.
