Who Owns “Linsanity?”

The following article was written by Cyle Kiger.

The kid looks as if he has no ceiling.  Jeremy Lin, New York Knicks point guard, has contributed heavily to the Knicks seven game win streak.  In his last five games, he is averaging 23.6 points and 9.8 assists.  With every major media outlet muttering ‘Linsanity,’ who owns the rights to the term?

Bloomberg News reported that two people have filed trademark applications to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  The first of two people to file for the term was Yenchin Chang on February 7^th, who told Bloomberg that he just “wanted to be a part of the excitement.”  His application is for goods and services that include T-shirts and hats.

The second person to file was Andrew Slayton on February 9^th.  Slayton says that he was an assistant coach of Lin’s when he was in high school.  Slayton registered the domain names Linsanity.com and thejeremylinshow.com in 2010.  Slayton sells Lin merchandise on the sites; T-shirts are selling for $20 on Linsanity.com.  However, Slayton said Lin  is not aware of the website.

If Lin continues his record run, expect to see more coming out on the issue of trademarking “Linsanity,” and other words with the prefix Lin.  Still, even though Chang and Slayton were the first to file applications of the term, Jeremy Lin himself has 30 days to file an application that states he believes that he may be harmed by the filings.