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Nearly three months after their 18-0 season ended in a thud, the New England Patriots are still pursuing federal trademark rights for the phrases “19-0″ and “19-0 The Perfect Season.”
The news comes from the folks at TheSmokingGun.com, whose prior forays into the world of football have introduced us to names like “Ron Mexico.”
The proof of the Pats’ ongoing pursuit of the perfection-related rights appears in an April 11 filing.
From a business standpoint, it makes sense. They’ve already fired up the legal lawnmower to acquire the rights in question. Why not finish the job, and then hold the property in their back pocket in the event that someone eventually makes it that extra step beyond 18-0?
From a football standpoint, however, it’s stupid. Especially if the Pats find themselves back on the brink of another Super Bowl after handling the first 18 foes that they face.
We’ve already heard folks like ESPN’s Cris Carter suggesting that the Patriots could navigate the regular season again without a loss. And that makes us wonder whether Cris Carter has reverted to his ways of the 1980s.
We’re not saying that the Pats can’t or won’t win them all. But it’s a little too early to think that they can pull off back-to-back perfect regular seasons.
Besides, we still prefer this one:
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:20 am
With the pathetic division that they play in and the softy schedule they’ve been handed, it wouldn’t be a shocker…..of course they’ll still lose in the Super Bowl. Hey, maybe they can trademark “18-1 and we’re done”
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Rating: 4.35 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:24 am
Someone launch this team into Outer Space already.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 am
I have an idea… trademark the Heimlich Manuever.
CHOKE!
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 am
Even as a long time Pats fan I find it hard to believe we could have another perfect regular season. There are just too many things that can go wrong, and its almost impossible to maintain the killer focus required the whole way through and not lose it during at least one game.
We saw several teams that were not having great seasons last year rise to the occasion and level of the Pats performance to almost beat us. We saw guys like AJ Feeley in Philly have maybe the best games of their life against the Pats. Realistically 13-3 or somewhere abouts is where the Pats are likely to end up. A chance of being perfect again sure, but I think the odds are really against it.
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 am
I doubt they can go undefeated again, so good luck with that 19-0 trademark!
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April 22nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
The bigger they are (or think they are) the harder they fall…
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
The phrases “19-0″ and “19-0 The Perfect Season” have value, why not trademark it? Either somebody else does it and they make money off it, or they do it and make a lot of money off it. It’s better to do it now as opposed to after the 18th game.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
19-0 looks better on a t-shirt than Cheatriots.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
i thought the NY Post trademarked “18-1″.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 10:39 am
I’d like to trademark the phrase “Pardon my French.”
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April 22nd, 2008 at 10:40 am
How Pathetic, they can own any trademark they want, the fact is Perfectville still has a population of 1!!!
Call me when you are the door.
They choked, AGAIN. Sure Patsie fans, blame the refs as always. Poor Asante Samuel getting all these bogus calls, blah, blah, blah.
The only thing worse than a classless organization is one that has theat white trash kinda front like they are the clasiest.
You can take a chick out of the trailer park, give her her GED and get her a french manicure, and let her think she has her come uppins, but she is still that crazy hoe that has screwed all of your friends and slashed someones tires at some point.
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Rating: 3.4 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:40 am
The business standpoint versus football standpoint is irrelevant. They already invested money into acquiring the rights for such a trademark and that money will go to waste if it in turn does not return a profit. The ‘football’ aspect of this post is completely irrelevant.
In terms of whether the Pats can achieve a perfect record once again, it will be difficult however if there is any season to do it is this one. The killer focus referenced above is of course necessary, the bigger question is whether the Patriots can be as healthy as they were last year. Any team that is in the brink of perfection is one injury away from a loss.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 10:40 am
How can you legally trademark “19-0″? Isn’t exactly an uncommon phrase or made up word like “threepeat”. So now if my beer league softball goes 19-0 and we want to print up shirts, we have to pay royalties to the Patriots? I didn’t think that organization could do any more to make themselves look any more arrogant, but I stand corrected.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:44 am
Well, if the CBA goes out the window in a few years and teams and there is no salary cap and teams can go out and buy the best players, who knows. There may be enough of a disparity between the haves and have nots for a team to go 19-0.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:44 am
You know, there has got to be prior art on 19-0. If nothing else, considering how many games are in a single season for baseball and basketball, at least one team has had to hit 19-0 sometime. I know it invalidates the “Perfect Season” part of the whole thing, but disproving part should nullify the whole thing. And, yeah, I know my argument is more appropriate for a patent instead of a trademark, but it is still a really jackass thing to do, especially since “Beel Beelichick” and the Cheatriots didn’t really earn it.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
The level of arrogance coming out of that corner of the world is astounding. If this doesn’t give players motivation to seriously injure Tom Brady, they surely will do something even more stupid that will.
While I respect the level of achievement that the Pats have accomplished, especially in the salary cap age, I have no respect for the players or staff (Tom Brady’s insistent whining/ego the size of Peyton Manning’s forehead; Vince Wilfork’s cheap and dirty playing tactics; and Bill Belichick’s one finger salute if you disagree with him in any way). There used to be such a thing as winning with class, and it appears that the Patriots have none of it.
Indubitably, Pat’s fans will hammer me for this post, but if you really really look in the mirror, you’ll find it hard to argue that a fair amount of Boston fans have become everything that they hate about NY fans.
Then again, I’m a Cowboys fan, so this bar of soap I am standing on, has suddenly become quite the slippery surface……:)
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:48 am
Beel Beelichick you are my cheating hero!
How do I reach those keeds?
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:50 am
That’s as funny as the Eagles trademarking “Super Bowl Champions.”
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:50 am
This team never learns does it? No end to the arrogance. Personally, I think the New York Post did it best, trademarking “18-1″ which will be the true legacy of this scumbag choking Patriots team.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am
Also, if the league ends up adding a 17th regular season game, then the whole thing is pointless, unless the Pats think they can do it before the CBA runs out
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April 22nd, 2008 at 10:54 am
I’m usually not a wet blanket on jokes. And I’m all for raking turds over the coals whenever possible. But Chris Carter has made such a complete and utter turnaround from his past, that joke was just a little bit over the top IMO.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 10:56 am
Maybe if/when the league expands the regular season to 17 games, the Pats will be able to go 19-0 before choking again.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
… but the * will never be forgotten.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 11:13 am
I find it hard to believe that the league office wouldn’t want a taste of that action. It seems awfully idiotic from a common sense standpoint for another team, were they to ever for 19-0, to have to pay a team in their own league for the right to use the numbers 19-0 on their merchandise.
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April 22nd, 2008 at 11:14 am
I don’t understand all of the comments here about the Patsies “choking” in the SB. I just watched it again last night and I came away with the same sentiment I had the several other times I watched it, “They got the living chit beat out of them.”
Please, let’s not alter the true legacy of their 2007 season…18-0, followed by a total butt whipping.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)