The Chicago Cubs' newfound success on the baseball field has led to a predictable problem - counterfeiters and shady entrepreneurs are looking to take advantage of the team's suddenly valuable trademarks.
"For the better part of 108 years, the logo really wasn't worth stealing," Scott Andresen, a Chicago attorney specializing in sports and trademark law, told the Chicago Tribune.
That's all changed now, especially since the Cubs' World Series championship last season. Headed for their third consecutive postseason appearance next week, the team is actively cracking down on sales of counterfeit merchandise. And team attorneys have also challenged trademark applications similar to Cubs trademarks such as the stylized "C" in the team logo, or phrases such as "Fly the W" and "1908 is enough."
How active have the Cubs been? According to the Tribune, since the start of the 2016 season, team attorneys have gone to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board 47 times. That's almost four times as often as the next closest MLB team, the Yankees. The board does just what its title implies, handling cases where people or companies can oppose trademark applications.
Not all these trademark applications are a clear-cut attempt to unscrupulously cash in on the Cubs' success. The Tribune notes that the Cubs are opposing a 2015 trademark application by the Chicago Athletic Association to use a "C" on its apparel. The team contends the logo is a bit too similar to the Cubs "C," which could cause confusion. The two sides are negotiating the issue.
Other businesses or groups simply abandon their trademark applications in the face of a Cubs challenge. Such was the case when Whole Foods dropped its "Little Cubbies" breakfast cereal in 2015.