Photo by Tony DeFillippo
Credit Bryce Harper, or someone within his circle of advisers and handlers, with having quick business acumen. Just hours after the 19-year-old outfielder left his mark in baseball folklore with his reply to a Canadian reporter’s foolhardy query, Harper filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for trademark protection on “That’s a clown question, bro.”
In the trademark application, filed June 13—the day after the now-infamous interview—Harper requested that his be paid royalties should his phrase appear on any apparel, “namely, shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, pants, shorts, hats, visors, gloves, shoes.”
The application was filed by Kit M. Stetina, an intellectual property lawyer in Aliso Viejo, Calif.
And apparel featuring “Clown Question” is coming soon, according to WTOP. Under Armour will be manufacturing T-shirts featuring Harper’s catchphrase, with other articles presumably to follow.
Harper’s move is just the latest example of a celebrity spinning cleverly spouted-off words into an added income stream and trying to protect their efforts from being repurposed for others’ financial gains.
Some applicants have been more successful than others. In February, New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin took out a trademark on “Linsanity.” In 2010, Paris Hilton successfully trademarked her slogan, “That’s hot,” but not until after the closure of a lengthy fair-use dispute with Hallmark, which used the words on a greeting card in 2007.
And also earlier this year, Jay-Z and Beyoncé Knowles trademarked the name of their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, in a sweeping application that covers all manners of products that could potentially feature the name or likeness of the five-month-old infant.
Harper’s application appears to be in good standing, and while Under Armour is on the way with T-Shirts, WTOP notes that another planned Harper-related product could hit a snag. A Denver brewery announced its plans to brew a special Canadian-style lager called “Clown Question, Bro.” But Harper’s trademark application mentions only apparel, not sudsy beverages. Still, if Harper objects to the beer, Denver Beer Co.’s brewmaster tells WTOP, “we’d desist.”
Not all celebrity trademark applications pan out, though. In 2004, at the height of the popularity of his reality series The Apprentice, Donald Trump attempted to cash in on his favorite saying, “You’re fired.” It was denied.
Now, that’s hot.
