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Basketball sensation Jeremy Lin may find himself playing offense on a different type of court, or rather, in court. The New York Knicks' new star point guard recently applied to trademark "Linsanity" several days after two California men each filed separate attempts, attempting to cash in on the fervor surrounding Lin and his vernacularly adaptable name.
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"We're prepared to protect his intellectual property rights," said Pam Deese at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Arent Fox, in an a brief comment to the Huffington Post.
In all likelihood, it probably won't escalate to the point of a contentious legal battle over the coveted and highly marketable term, and will most likely be resolved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's review process.
Milord A. Keshishian, an attorney specializing in patent, trademark and copyright law, told Bloomberg that the law "doesn't bode well" for anyone trying to make money off someone else's name.
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"This looks like a bad-faith attempt to profit from Jeremy Lin's recent acclaim," Keshishian said of the trademark applications.
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The two men have been identified as Yenchin Chang and Adam Slayton, according to Bloomberg. Chang, an import-export businessman from Alhambra, Calif., was the first to file a trademark application for goods and services, including clothing merchandise. Slayton, a physical education teacher from Los Altos, Calif., followed with a similar filing, and currently owns the domain "linsanity.com," where he sells Lin-related merchandise.
"I have a feeling both of these guys are small operators," said Gary Krugman, a partner at the Washington-based firm Sughrue Mion, in an interview with Bloomberg. "If Jeremy comes in with a big law firm they won't be able to hang with him."
