Law of Cards: Upper Deck Files Pair of Trademark Applications
The land grab for common words in the trading card industry continues. On March 14, Upper Deck filed two new trademark applications for LEGENDARY and GREATS OF THE GAME. Both filings are to protect Upper Deck products, but I would hazard a guess that the LEGENDARY filing will be of concern for the rest of the industry.
I say that because both Topps and Leaf are currently challenging Panini's attempt to trademark the word "Limited," which is not only a Panini product name, but a very common term in the industry. Heck, there's 2010 Topps Legendary Lineage inserts, 2012 Leaf Metal Poker's Legendary Ladies of Poker, eBay listings using the word "Legendary" (such as "1972-73 TOPPS BASKETBALL CARD JOHN HAVLICEK LEGENDARY BOSTON CELTICS SUPERSTAR"), etc., to go along with Upper Deck's Legendary Cuts. Upper Deck is currently using Legendary for a Marvel-themed gaming product.
Greats of the Game is one of the most popular retired-player brands that dates back to Fleer.
As Brian Gray, the president of Leaf told me earlier, "If Panini gets Limited for a trademark, then I'm going to name products 'Rare' and 'Exclusive' and file for trademarks on those."
Well, "legendary" might not be as utilized as "limited" or "rare" or "exclusive," but it's pretty darn close.
Upper Deck's filing for LEGENDARY looks to be one more step down a slippery trademark slope, because seriously, if Panini gets LIMITED and Upper Deck gets LEGENDARY, then everyone in the industry better start filing on other "commons" before someone else files on them.
The details of Upper Deck's two filings are below.
| Word Mark | LEGENDARY |
| Goods and Services | IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: trading cards. FIRST USE: 20120807. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20120807IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: trading card games. FIRST USE: 20120817. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20120817 |
| Standard Characters Claimed | |
| Mark Drawing Code | (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK |
| Serial Number | 85876489 |
| Filing Date | March 14, 2013 |
| Current Basis | 1A |
| Original Filing Basis | 1A |
| Owner | (APPLICANT) The Upper Deck Company, Inc. CORPORATION NEVADA 2251 Rutherford Road Carlsbad CALIFORNIA 92008 |
| Attorney of Record | Pollie Gautsch, Esq |
| Type of Mark | TRADEMARK |
| Register | PRINCIPAL |
| Live/Dead Indicator | LIVE |
| Word Mark | GREATS OF THE GAME |
| Goods and Services | IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: trading cards. FIRST USE: 20060426. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20060426 |
| Standard Characters Claimed | |
| Mark Drawing Code | (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK |
| Serial Number | 85876441 |
| Filing Date | March 14, 2013 |
| Current Basis | 1A |
| Original Filing Basis | 1A |
| Owner | (APPLICANT) The Upper Deck Company Inc. CORPORATION NEVADA 2251 Rutherford Road Carlsbad CALIFORNIA 92008 |
| Attorney of Record | Pollie Gautsch, Esq |
| Type of Mark | TRADEMARK |
| Register | PRINCIPAL |
| Live/Dead Indicator | LIVE |
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