[Infowarrior] - Stupid Sports Patents

[Richard Forno]

PAT-ENTLY SMUG & SNOOTY

By CHUCK BENNETT

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02012008/news/regionalnews/pat_ently_smug__snoot
y_587194.htm

February 1, 2008 -- The Patriots are suffering from premature exhilaration.

The arrogant New England team has already applied for trademarks on "19-0"
and "19-0 The Perfect Season." Three days before they beat the San Diego
Chargers, and more than two weeks before Super Bowl XLII, the team
egotistically filed paperwork with the US Patent and Trademark Office to
cash in on sales of T-shirts, caps, posters and all kinds of Pats
paraphernalia.

But the 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.

And Bill Belichick and his bozos better wait a minuteman before counting
their royalties.

"If the team gets wind of this and thinks, 'Maybe we jinxed ourselves,'
well, the power of the human mind is incalculable, and if they begin
thinking that, they will lose," warned Jordana Sands, a celebrity psychic
from Manhattan.

Adding to the jinx, the official online NFL Shop has already started selling
"19-0 Perfect Season" Super Bowl XLII championship tees and sweatshirts.

"I come from a town that's incredibly superstitious and there is a phrase,
'You don't want to disturb the gambling gods,' and there is a segment of the
population that thinks they are messing with the gambling gods," said
veteran Las Vegas oddsmaker Tony Sinisi.

As for the Giants, they are taking everything in stride.

"My reaction is this, our entire organization, from the Mara and Tisch
families down, is focused on one thing: winning one game," said Giants
spokesman Pat Hanlon.

The Post had no luck contacting David Johanson, the attorney who applied for
the New England trademarks on Jan. 17. The woman who answered his telephone
yelled, "We can't talk about this!" and hung up.

Several hours later, Pats spokesman Stacey James called to say the trademark
filing was to protect profits, and is not a pre-emptive writing of history.

"These are defensive tactics taken so people can't brand with our logo," he
said.

The "19-0" trademark has not yet been approved.

And all James had to say about his team's patent-office prophecy was: "I am
confident that we are 18-0 and we play on Sunday."

For many sports watchers, the Pats' trademark application harked back to Pat
Riley's days as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

In 1989, he trademarked the phrase "three-peat" in hopes of cashing in on
bringing his team to a third consecutive championship.

His team failed, but ultimately Riley hit a royalties windfall anyway when
the Chicago Bulls hit the "three-peat" in 1993.

cbennett at nypost.com