Tebow trademarks kneeling on one knee and fake praying

[Brock]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/jets-te...7810--nfl.html

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) -- Dropping to a knee like Tim Tebow might cost you now.
The New York Jets backup quarterback is trademarking ''Tebowing,'' the move in which he goes down on one knee and holds a clenched fist against his forehead while praying during games.
After Tebow led the Denver Broncos to a handful of fourth-quarter comeback victories last season, ''Tebowing'' swept the country - with actor Robert Downey Jr. even doing it at the Oscars.
Newsday first reported that the trademark was approved Oct. 9. Tebow says Friday he wasn't aware the trademark was official yet.
The devout Christian says his representatives filed on his behalf not for financial gain, but ''to just control how it's used, make sure it's used in the right way.''

[Fish]

Originally Posted by DRU

Complete ignorance.

Ignorance? No.. Just laughing at the fact that you think Tebow has a "Brand" that needs any kind of protection.

It's a ****ing touchdown celebration.

This is the most absurd and pathetic example of intellectual property I've ever heard. Calling it "Intellectual" at all is disgraceful and insulting to the idea....

[memyselfI]

Originally Posted by DRU

You obviously don't understand trademarks. Did you read my porno video example in my first response to this thread? That's the type of thing they're trying to protect and it's absolutely logical for them to do so.

Same with Jordan and his mark. Let's start another thread talking about how shitty Michael Jordan is for trademarking his brand and how he's money hungry.

Not to mention, that the percentage of the population which ever did Michael Jordon's TM was very small. But how many people is this going to impact vs. what Jordon's did?

It's just disgusting.

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

Ignorance? No.. Just laughing at the fact that you think Tebow has a "Brand" that needs any kind of protection.

It's a ****ing touchdown celebration.

This is the most absurd and pathetic example of intellectual property I've ever heard. Calling it "Intellectual" at all is disgraceful and insulting to the idea....

[DRU]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

Ignorance? No.. Just laughing at the fact that you think Tebow has a "Brand" that needs any kind of protection.

It's a ****ing touchdown celebration.

This is the most absurd and pathetic example of intellectual property I've ever heard. Calling it "Intellectual" at all is disgraceful and insulting to the idea....

Once again, complete ignorance. You obviously know nothing about intellectual property. It's become way more than a simple TD celebration. Other people are actually profiting on it....or at least were. This will give Tebow and co. the ability to protect that. For example, let's say somebody uses the mark and the term to draw attention to a non-profit that he doesn't agree with. This would give them the ability to stop them from using that mark and his name.

The interesting thing here is that they seem to have jumped on this early because they saw that it was quickly becoming a verb. The more common knowledge something is the harder it is for them to trademark. Do you happen to remember the Xerox commercials where they were asking people not to kill their brand by continuing to use the name Xerox as a verb for making a copy?

Tebow's lawyers and managers, etc. all saw this coming and jumped on it early. And they got it passed.

The simple fact that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office accepted and issued the trademark should tell you that it is a brand with a mark that needs protecting based on IP law.

Before that, all of Tebow's "people" apparently saw it for what it is, too, and knew they should protect it. As such, they filed for a trademark.

I guess we're all wrong and you're right.

It's perfectly logical. You're just allowing the fact that you don't like the kid (and for what? because he gets a lot of attention even though he sucks??) keep you from accepting it for what it is.

[evolve27]

I hope he gets cut from the NFL

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by DRU

Trademarks aren't about money. It's not like a patent where people have to pay royalties. Nobody is going to have pay Tebow when they pray, and if you think that's what their attempt was here you're being ignorant.

"Tebowing" has indeed become a national thing that pretty much anybody who follows sports at all knows about. It's become a verb, and it's also become a brand, so to speak. What's the first thing you would think about if you saw a silhouette of a man kneeling and praying like that? Tebowing, right?

Well, that is a powerful thing, and if somebody were to create some sort of a logo out of that silhouette they could do damage to Tebow's brand. The trademark will allow them to legally tell somebody to stop using that mark.

For example, I'm sure Tebow and co. wouldn't like it very much of somebody made a gay porno video called Teblowing and used that silhouette on the cover of their DVD. The trademark would allow them to legally stop that sort of thing from happening because it could cause confusion in the market place.

They wouldn't have to pay him royalties, though. It's completely separate.

I don't think so. Teblowing would be fair game s long as they did not have a picture or tebowes picture. Avengersxxx and batfxxx are perfect examples of porns I mistakenly came across and watched briefly.

[chefsos]

I'm not familiar with trademark law, but I agree with DRU here. It's something that had to be done, and there's nothing sinister about it. If Tebow's people hadn't trademarked the thing, someone else may have done it. Maybe someone else was already trying to.

I laugh at him as much as anyone, but it's pretty easy, to me, to separate the contempt of Tebow's beliefs, marketing, and relative football skills from the acceptance of sound business practices.

[SAUTO]

So can he charge for the usage?
Posted via Mobile Device

[DRU]

Originally Posted by Valiant

I don't think so. Teblowing would be fair game s long as they did not have a picture or tebowes picture. Avengersxxx and batfxxx are perfect examples of porns I mistakenly came across and watched briefly.

Yeah, the actual silhouette would be the most protected thing. I haven't seen if they have an official one they're using like the Jordan logo...do they..?? That would be interesting to see if they filed an official one with their trademark application.

It wouldn't stop people in other countries, either, unless they filed apps in those countries that were granted as well.

The fact remains, trademarks are hard to get approved. They have to pass a very specific set of rules in order to be approved. This was approved, and I can see why.

I hate Tebow madness just as much as the rest of you but that doesn't change reality.

[chefsos]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

So can he charge for the usage?
Posted via Mobile Device

Post a picture and we'll see. It will probably only be a buck or two.

[DRU]

Originally Posted by chefsos

I'm not familiar with trademark law, but I agree with DRU here. It's something that had to be done, and there's nothing sinister about it. If Tebow's people hadn't trademarked the thing, someone else may have done it. Maybe someone else was already trying to.

I laugh at him as much as anyone, but it's pretty easy, to me, to separate the contempt of Tebow's beliefs, marketing, and relative football skills from the acceptance of sound business practices.

They already did. People were running tebowing.com and trying to trademark it themselves. Tebow and co. had to fight that and get it dismissed before they could even file their own.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/1...mark-tebowing/

It all comes down to confusion in the marketplace, and if using the mark would make people think Tebow and co. were directly associated with all these people using it, they have every right to protect it. The Trademark and Patent office agrees.

[DRU]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

So can he charge for the usage?
Posted via Mobile Device

Technically, no, but he can use the trademark as a tool to help keep you from using it for your own financial gain.

That said, if they negotiate with somebody who does want to use the mark he could gain from it that way, just like Jordan does with his mark. If you license it to people for use on their products or in their marketing material you can receive money based on your licensing agreement with that company....just like Jordan does.

Apparently they've said any profits that do come from this will go to the Tebow Foundation.

[Fish]

If anything, this just goes to show you how absurd the patent and trademarking process has become in the US. Sometime in the future, we're going to see a complete collapse of this type of thing. The advance of technology, and the unenforceable nature of patents and trademarks is going to eventually completely dismantle the entire system. Globalization of technology means that other countries simply laugh at our notion that we control or own words and ideas. It's simply not a sustainable or enforceable system.

The fact that Americans think they can claim ownership of something as ridiculous and unimportant as a touchdown celebration is laughable. Just as the MPAA and RIAA are completely helpless to enforce protection of their IP throughout the world, so to will the time come for the same to happen to US patents and trademarks.

[DRU]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

If anything, this just goes to show you how absurd the patent and trademarking process has become in the US. Sometime in the future, we're going to see a complete collapse of this type of thing. The advance of technology, and the unenforceable nature of patents and trademarks is going to eventually completely dismantle the entire system. Globalization of technology means that other countries simply laugh at our notion that we control or own words and ideas. It's simply not a sustainable or enforceable system.

The fact that Americans think they can claim ownership of something as ridiculous and unimportant as a touchdown celebration is laughable. Just as the MPAA and RIAA are completely helpless to enforce protection of their IP throughout the world, so to will the time come for the same to happen to US patents and trademarks.

Your problem is you're seeing this as just a TD celebration. It's become a lot more than that.

Let's get completely hypothetical here, and take a look at this...



Let's imagine that became a national craze and everybody was running around "Priesting" to the point where as soon as you saw a silhouette of that image or you heard the term Priesting people immediately associate it with Priest Holmes himself. Then imagine people starting buying domain names like priesting.com with his image and were selling merchandise with his image and name on it. The public could very easily start to think that anywhere they saw that image or heard that term, Priest Holmes must be involved.

His people would do exactly the same thing, and I would bet you wouldn't care nearly as much. Again, you're not talking any shit on Jordan for doing the same thing, and you don't seem to care that our country allowed him to do that long before technology was so heavily embedded in our lives.

The Trademark and Patent office isn't going to let just anybody trademark their TD move. It's not just some free for all for anybody to trademark anything they want. This is a completely valid use of trademark law.

Get over it.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by DRU

Technically, no, but he can use the trademark as a tool to help keep you from using it for your own financial gain.

That said, if they negotiate with somebody who does want to use the mark he could gain from it that way, just like Jordan does with his mark. If you license it to people for use on their products or in their marketing material you can receive money based on your licensing agreement with that company....just like Jordan does.

Apparently they've said any profits that do come from this will go to the Tebow Foundation.

So "technically" he CAN PROFIT FROM THIS.

You might as well shut up now...
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