Trademarks Filed

[spongey]

EXCLUSIVE: Trademarks Filed
Must credit NewOrleansHornets.com

The phrase "New Orleans Hornets" has been trademarked by the Charlotte Hornets NBA Limited Partnership Shinn Enterprises Incorporated. The filing date on the trademark applications was January 25, 2002 according to the USPTO website. A total of nine trademarks were uncovered during our search. The trademarks include chat rooms and online bulletin boards, online catalogs and newsletters, online stores, toys and games, apparel, trading cards, computer peripherals, clothing and television and radio programs.

Our search of records relating to the Memphis Grizzlies shows that trademarks were filed for that relocating franchise on June 19, 2001 -- one month prior to the NBA board of governor's unanimous approval for the Grizzlies to move from Vancouver to Memphis. The trademark filing by the Hornets ownership group of the trademark "New Orleans Hornets" comes nearly three months before the NBA board of governor's will meet to accept or reject the Hornets relocation application to New Orleans.

The filing of "New Orleans Hornets" trademarks by the Hornets ownership group does not mean that the relocation is a 'lock' to go through. The trademark was filed eight days after the MOU was signed when the season ticket sales targets were expected to be easily met. If New Orleans can not meet the minimum season ticket sales goals of 8,000 regular season tickets and 2,450 club seat season tickets, the Hornets have the option of withdrawing from the Memorandum of Understanding they signed with the State of Louisiana on January 17, 2002.

Related: To look up the trademarks discussed in this article:
Go to the USPTO web site
Drop down the box that says "-click to view-" and select "Trademarks" then hit GO
Click "New User Form Search (Basic)"
Type New Orleans Hornets (or Memphis Grizzlies depending on what you're searching for) into the "Search Term" box
Click "Submit Query"

[PELICANSFAN]

Well that should at least put to rest any questions as to what the name of the team will be.

[Adam the Legend]

How will this affect this website spong?

[spongey]

Originally posted by Adam the Legend
How will this affect this website spong?

I don't have a clue, Adam. If you're unable to access us tomorrow then we'll know j/k

[Adam the Legend]

Originally posted by spongey

I don't have a clue, Adam. If you're unable to access us tomorrow then we'll know j/k

I can see it now spong...."HornetsReport.com"..

[spongey]

Originally posted by Adam the Legend


I can see it now spong...."HornetsReport.com"..

LOL

[spongey]

By the way, just saw that the attorney who filed the trademark applications is from NBA properties:

Correspondent (Owner)
Anil V. George (Attorney of record)

ANIL V. GEORGE
NBA PROPERTIES, INC.
645 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK NY 10022
United States

[spongey]

Wow, check some of this stuff out. If the Hornets site is going to have these features, it's gonna rock.

namely providing a website featuring the following content: television highlights, interactive television highlights, video recordings, video stream recordings, interactive video highlight selections, radio programs, radio highlights, and audio recordings in the field of basketball, basketball news in the nature of information, statistics, trivia and public opinion about basketball,

[WeatherNLU]

Sweet.....good find Spongey. Interesting that they did it so early in comparison to Memphis.

[spongey]

Originally posted by WeatherNLU
Sweet.....good find Spongey. Interesting that they did it so early in comparison to Memphis.

I was hoping they'd have a drawing of the logo but I guess they haven't made it yet (couldn't be hard to take out Charlotte and put in New Orleans). Usually in those trademark applications they have a very grainy picture to go along with the application.

[Bad Andy]

Originally posted by spongey
By the way, just saw that the attorney who filed the trademark applications is from NBA properties:

Correspondent (Owner)
Anil V. George (Attorney of record)

ANIL V. GEORGE
NBA PROPERTIES, INC.
645 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK NY 10022
United States

Anil, the guys name is Anil? Well if that's not a tip-off about how serious they are about this. Hope you got a lot of TP Spong.

[spongey]

Originally posted by CharlotteDude


Old college buddy of mine works in the USPTO as a claim reviewer. I'll check in with him Monday and see if it is OK to divulge more info.

Cool, thanks CD.

[spongey]

Originally posted by Bad Andy


Anil, the guys name is Anil? Well if that's not a tip-off about how serious they are about this. Hope you got a lot of TP Spong.

LOL

[Harvey Hornet-x]

Originally posted by WeatherNLU
Interesting that they did it so early in comparison to Memphis.

I believe that Shinn and Wooldridge have done everything and anything in their power to further convince the league of the necessity of the move. They will not sell, filed to move to NO, are getting their business set up here. They are acting as if they have already been approved by the league which I believe is their intention. How many times have you said Wooly say we will get approval? Actions like this are what is known as the assumptive close in sales.

[westbank chris]

i think it might be a good idea to have another site (like sr.com) for everybody to go to in the event of the hornets killing this site. it could tell us where the new website would be, if the hornets just cut this off all of a sudden and don't give you any time to get the word out. i know you have most of our e-mail addresses, but there are plenty of people who come here that aren't registered.
that way we won't all be left in the cold, knowing only that "neworleanshornets.com" is no longer active.

while i''m busy telling you how you should run your site, could we get that dance smiley they have on sr?

[spongey]

Originally posted by westbank chris
i think it might be a good idea to have another site (like sr.com) for everybody to go to in the event of the hornets killing this site. it could tell us where the new website would be, if the hornets just cut this off all of a sudden and don't give you any time to get the word out. i know you have most of our e-mail addresses, but there are plenty of people who come here that aren't registered.
that way we won't all be left in the cold, knowing only that "neworleanshornets.com" is no longer active.

while i''m busy telling you how you should run your site, could we get that dance smiley they have on sr?

Don't worry chris, there are rules in place to prevent the scenario you described above. If we move to a new home, we'll have plenty of time to inform everyone and make the transition smooth.

You'll have to bug Andrus for the smiley's I think he's waiting until it's made official before really tweaking the site up right.

[spongey]

:godance:

Is that the one you wanted? If so, it's on there now, I just uploaded it. Use the smiley link to the left on a new post or reply or you can type godance with : 's in the front and back.

[westbank chris]

that thing just kills me. i don't know why.

:godance:

[CHICAGOGRIZZLY]

Glad to see you have plans in place, cause it looks like the NBA eventually will be coming for you (see story posted below). Just remember that "new orleans hornets" meant nothing when you registered it. i don't think a team can just move to a town and claim ownership of stuff. But hey Spongey, it looks like at the very worst you'll get a couple of bobbleheads out of it.


Grizzlies Obtain Rights to Fan's Web Site


The Memphis Grizzlies reached an agreement with Greg Graber and Sanford Shefsky to obtain the rights to the website www.memphisgrizzlies.org. The pair received national attention last summer when they secured the domain name. Graber and Shefsky created the site to support Memphis' effort to secure a team. Now, Graber and Shefskyare turning the site over to the Memphis Grizzlies.

"We consider ourselves Super Fans," said Graber. "We want to show our support and appreciation for what the Grizzlies have done for the community in the short time they have been here."

Shefsky adds "The Grizzlies have given blood, sweat, tears, and millions of dollars to better our city. This is our way of thanking them."

Graber, a writer and broadcaster, has agreed to write a weekly column for the Grizzlies' official website, www.grizzlies.com. The column will be called "The Greg Graber Grizzlie Growl", which is also the name of his weekly radio show that airs Monday afternoons on 94.1 FM, The Buzz with Argo. The pair will also receive Grizzlies Bobblehead dolls.

The www.memphisgrizzlies.org address will now direct users to grizzlies.com. Earlier this season, grizzlies.com peaked at fifth in the NBA in fan visits. The site has been hailed for its easy navigation and its heavy usage of interactive features that allow fans a close look at their favorite team.

"We're glad to have reached this agreement with Greg and Sanford and feel he website will be a valuable tool to promote our community initiatives,"said Mike Golub, Senior Vice-President of Business Operations for the Memphis Grizzlies. "Greg and Sanford are great fans, and we appreciate all they have done in support of the team. We look forward to their ongoing involvement."

[CarolinaBlues]

Just legal formalities. Would have to have done it eventually. Nothing to read into here unless you really believe Wooldridge in his comments of "never being more excited about New Orleans".