By: Sharon Urias, Esq.
Early last month, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) ruled there is only one true Evil Empire of baseball and it is the New York Yankees. This ruling gives the Yankees all rights to its nickname Evil Empire, and even though the team has never registered the nickname as a trademark, the ruling prevents others from doing so.
The Board’s ruling was in answer to a request from the company Evil Enterprises Inc. to register the trademark “Baseballs Evil Empire.” The company wanted the trademark for apparel that would bear the Yankees logo depicted with a devil and a pitchfork. The TTAB ruled that consumers may be confused by the clothing and assume the goods produced by Evil Enterprises Inc. are associated with the Yankees.
The name Evil Empire actually originated with the Boston Red Sox when a high profile player signed with the Yankees instead of the Red Sox. Although Red Sox fans thought the name Evil Enterprise to be a derogatory name for the New York baseball team, the Yankees embraced the name as a reflection of the team’s success and actually played music from Star Wars at their home games.
In 2008, Evil Enterprises Inc. filed a trademark application for BASEBALL’S EVIL EMPIRE. In 2009, the Yankees filed a notice of opposition.
In its argument for the trademark, Evil Enterprises stated it should be able to trademark the name as the name did not just refer to the Yankees, but to any sports team that spends huge amounts of money on obtaining the best athletes. However, TTAB did not agree with this argument as well as Evil Enterprises argument the trademark was a “spoof and parody” of the team and thus would not cause confusion in the minds of American baseball fans.
The board found the name Evil Empire closely associated with the New York Yankees in the minds of America’s baseball fans. The TTAB cited numerous news articles that referred to the Yankees as the Evil Empire and reached the conclusion “there is only one Evil Empire in baseball and it is the New York Yankees.”
Although Evil Enterprises cannot register the trademark, the clothing company said it will still produce its Evil Enterprise apparel.
