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'Tebowing,' 'Linsanity'...and now 'Kaepernicking'
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick #7 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after running in a touchdown in the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers during the NFC Divisional Playoff Game at Candlestick Park on January 12, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. This pose has become known as "Kaepernicking."
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The San Francisco 49ers are Super Bowl-bound. And if the team's young quarterback -- Colin Kaepernick -- scores, you're likely to see him motion a kiss at his flexed right bicep. (His helmet gets in the way of his lips actually making contact with that tattooed arm, impressive as it is.)
Turns out the 25-year-old calls this move "Kaepernicking." And he's applied for a trademark of the term.
It’s just the latest in a long line of sports figures branding their moves. Take, for example, "Tebowing” or “Linsanity.” Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin trademarked their respective terms. But it’s not clear how much they’ve made off them, nor how much Kaepernick stands to make.
Daniel Durbin teaches sports and culture at the University of Southern California. He questions the timing of the trademark move. He says Kaepernick should be focused on the big game.
Instead, “this quarterback is focused on trying to copyright an action of self-love?” he asks rhetorically.
Durbin says the danger for Kaepernick is that sports stars -- and their brands -- often fade quickly. Who even says “Linsanity” anymore?
But William and Mary law professor Laura Heymann says a trademark is sometimes less about protecting a brand, and more about protecting the person behind it.
“If anybody is going to be able to make money from merchandise that involves that mark, it should be the athlete himself or herself,” she says.
If an outside person or company tries to make money from a sports figure's name, Heymann says trademarks can often give the figure legal name protection.
Let me provide a bit more context here. It's true that the Patent & Trademark Office has, in the past, favored trademark applications for terms that include athletes' names (for use on merchandise) that come from the athlete himself/herself, over applications from unrelated third parties (see, e.g., Jeremy Lin). But that doesn't mean that it's a good thing to give the athlete trademark rights over such terms. When fans buy T-shirts that say "Kaepernicking," they don't particularly care who makes that shirt -- they just want to show support for him/the team. Granting the registration would allow Kaepernick to prevent others from selling such shirts. That might be good for Kaepernick; it's not so clear it's good for the fans.
