The Philadelphia Eagles recently submitted an application to register the term “Kelly Green,” the name of the shade of green the team wore for many years until 1995. Although the team currently wears darker “Midnight Green” uniforms, the Eagles have sold throwback merchandise featuring the Kelly Green color over the past few decades. For those following intellectual property law, this case raises fascinating questions about the ability to register a mark that has been used minimally by a business but still is associated with it due to public nostalgia.

Panitch Schwarze attorneys Stephen E. Murray and Steven D. Lustig authored an article in The Trademark Lawyer providing an overview of the case. They note that the Eagles are not pursuing an application to protect the color associated with Kelly Green; they are merely applying to register the term itself. This may be due to the fact that it has not been the team’s primary color for nearly 30 years, despite the strong association with Kelly Green among longtime Eagles fans.

This kind of public attribution can be recognized under the law, but time will tell if nostalgia for the Eagles iconography of the past is enough for this application to be successful.

Read the full article here: Philadelphia Eagles looking to corner the football market on Kelly Green