Brian in Boston

Oak View Group had its trademark application for the name Palm Springs Firebirds refused by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO's ruling cited the "likelihood of confusion with the mark" of the Ontario Hockey League's Flint Firebirds and concluded that "the compared marks are confusingly similar". The ruling also stated: "Additionally, because each party offers identical services, it is likely that consumers will perceive the applicant's hockey services to be related to registrant's hockey services, as it is common for hockey teams in one league to affiliate themselves with hockey teams in a different league and for the affiliated teams to share the same team name." Oak View Group has until May 12, 2020 to "respond to the refusal by submitting evidence and arguments in support of registration", otherwise the application for the Palm Springs Firebirds name will be abandoned. In addition to the Palm Springs Firebirds name, Oak View Group has - to date - also registered Palm Springs Dragons, Palm Springs Eagles, Palm Springs Falcons, Palm Springs Hawks, and Palm Springs Sun with the USPTO. As a result, they may simply opt to go with one of those names for the franchise. They could, of course, still file additional trademarks. It's interesting to note that, prior to the USPTO's refusal of the Palm Springs Firebirds name, the team's website had featured the promotional tagline, "We got Fire. Bring on the Ice." In the wake of the refusal, the tagline has been changed to, "We got the heat. Bring on the ice." USPTO Trademark Status & Document Retrieval Case Viewer - Case ID 88573330

I'll grant you the "whimsy" factor insofar as the Pickles and Gherkins branding is concerned. That said, I don't know that I'm ready to label the organization "the West Coast equivalent of the St. Paul Saints" just yet. They've been around for a grand total of four seasons, while the modern incarnation of the Saints just completed its 27th campaign. Don't get me wrong... the Portland Pickles have put together a well-run summer collegiate operation over their first four seasons. That said, so have the Savannah Bananas... a team that, in addition to being no slouch in the "whimsy" department itself, has averaged 4,083 fans per game, put together an 88-game sell-out streak over three consecutive seasons, and captured the Coastal Plain League's Petit Cup Championship in its inaugural year. And the Bananas have done it in a city and metro area much smaller than that which the Pickles can draw from. As far as West Coast League operations are concerned, the organization that impresses me is that of the Victoria HarbourCats. No, there's not a lot of "whimsy" on display at Royal Athletic Park, but talk about a team that's created an impressive following. Over the course of seven seasons, the HarbourCats have built-up their average attendance to over 2,300 fans per game, which - again - is pretty amazing given the fact that the city and metro area population in the market is a fraction the size of that which exists in Portland. But, when it comes to identifying collegiate summer baseball's "equivalent of the St. Paul Saints", the closest you're going to find are the Madison Mallards. In 2001, their inaugural season in the Northwoods League , they finished fourth in attendance, drawing just 1,039 fans per game. In their second season, the 1,973 fans per game that they averaged was good enough to lead the league in attendance. Since earning that honor in 2002, the Mallards have yet to cede the Northwoods League attendance crown to any other ball club. In the 2003 and 2004 seasons, the Mallards drew over 4,400 fans per game. In 2005, they exceeded 5,000 fans per game, pulling in an average crowd of 5,738. The 2006 Northwoods League season saw the Mallards average crowd size rise to 6,056. Over 11 of the next 13 seasons, the Mallards' attendance would exceed 6,000 fans per game. The high mark over the past 13 seasons was 2015's 6,358 fans per game. The "low" was an average of 5,884 in 2010. In all, the Madison Mallards have averaged 5,474 fans per game over their 19 years of existence. On the field, the Mallards have won four division titles, qualified for the playoffs eight times, advanced to the Northwoods League Championship Series on four occasions, and won the league championship twice. Any way you slice it, that's impressive.

As a collegiate summer team the Portland Pickles are, indeed, "independent" and "unaffiliated" with regard to their relationship with Major League Baseball.. However, the Portland Pickles are not a professional club. Their players aren't paid. In fact, their players can't be compensated, as that would strip said players of their amateur status, thus preventing them from competing collegiately ever again.

Unless something has changed with the Portland Pickles' operation, the team is not an independent, unaffiliated minor league franchise. Rather, the Pickles are a collegiate summer baseball team that competes in the summer wood bat West Coast League. So, it would appear that one collegiate summer baseball team has elected to operate another collegiate summer baseball team as an "official farm affiliate". Said affiliate will be operating in the same market... out of the same facility... playing a schedule comprised, at least in part, of games against teams from the same league as the parent club. Interesting.

Maybe it's just me, but I find something odd - indeed, off-putting - about the Narwhal playing dress-up in sea-captain's garb while wielding a harpoon. It would be like the Milwaukee Bucks rolling out a primary mark that depicted a deer sporting a winter ear-flap cap, camouflage hunting jacket, and orange safety vest, while toting a bolt action rifle.

Apparently, the Wareham Gatemen of the collegiate summer Cape Cod Baseball League were mulling taking legal action against the Worcester Red Sox over a logo that the latter team is using. Wareham Gatemen Worcester Red Sox According to the Worcester Business Journal, cooler heads have prevailed and a legal battle has been avoided. WooSox avoid a court fight over 'W' logo

Thanks for catching that.

Well, "The Heart of the Commonwealth" motto's been around since October of 1831. I suspect that was a bit before your 20-year stint in Central Massachusetts. Governor Levi Lincoln of Massachusetts, who would later go on to serve as the City of Worcester's first mayor, coined the phrase. Since then, it's been used to describe both the City of Worcester and Worcester County. It's the reason the image of a heart adorns the Worcester city seal and, by extension, everything from the city flag to city street signs. In any event, when it comes to invoking municipal mottos and nicknames, the only folks capable of outdoing local politicos and chamber of commerce officials are sports branding professionals.

While the heart that's worked into the W in the WooSox script is a clever touch (Worcester is nicknamed "The Heart of the Commonwealth", both for its geographic location and the fact that it was the birthplace of modern Valentine's Day cards), I hate that said word mark clashes with the traditional Red Sox font. The mascot - Smiley Ball - is a cute reference to the fact that the Smiley Face icon was created in Worcester by Harvey Ball, though I'm not a fan of the fact that he's wearing a red cap. That lid should be blue. And speaking of caps... there's no need for so many of them. Frankly, the blue one with the W in a classic Red Sox font would suffice. Maybe - maybe - a second cap... perhaps the red one with the blue visor, but with the heart-W on it. Eight caps is absolutely ridiculous.

If said ties were ever severed, the Worcester-based farm team would just rebrand... and dip into the pockets of folks buying souvenir merchandise emblazoned with the new name and logos.

Oh, I don't believe that they're actually going with Worcesters. It was likely registered as a misdirection, or to support the eventual roll-out of throwback merchandise tied to the professional team that called the city home in the late 1800s.

Well, they registered Ruby Legs, Wicked Worms and Worcesters with the United States Patent & Trademark Office back in June. That said, I would not be at all shocked if they simply opted to continue in the same vein as they utilized for branding in Pawtucket, dubbing the team the Worcester Red Sox, utilizing WooSox as a less formal nickname, and getting creative in the area of logos that feature a crazy mascot.

The so-called "Dream" League would be a nightmare for its team owners. They - not MLB - would be on the hook for acquiring their own players and paying said athletes, as well their coaches and training staff. The increase in costs - from salaries, worker's compensation, support staffing - associated with going from owning an affiliated MiLB franchise to owning a Dream League team is being estimated as falling somewhere between $300,000 to $400,000. Which is why the suits in MLB are also encouraging current MiLB owners who don't think that they'd be able to afford said increase to join amateur summer wood bat leagues that MLB would help organize. This stands to be an absolute cluster***k for many affiliated MiLB owners and the markets they play in. #StrikeOutTheExemption

With regard to MiLB's 2020 Copa de la Diversión identities, I'm partial to the Fenómenos Enmascarados del Valle de Hudson.

I don't know about that. It would invite headlines like "Bad Wind Stinks Up Wichita Ballpark".

Wichita Baseball 2020 is now... the Wichita Wind Surge. "Symbol of aspiration, free spirit, and a daring determined attitude - harnessing the wind and surging forward. Our core colors, navy blue and red, are deeply rooted in the culture of baseball. They are also found in Wichita's beloved flag. Sky blue pays tribute to Kansas' wide open prairie skies, which have inspired innovators and dreamers to soar to new heights from time immemorial. Yellow gold is the color of sunflowers, wheat, and summer sunsets - all iconic identifiers of our region. We are surging forward with new vibrancy, a new energy, and a fierce sense of purpose. We are the Wichita Wind Surge." Home Jersey Home Cap Road Jersey Road Cap Navy Alternate Jersey Red Alternate Jersey Alternate Cap The name is horrible. That said, the primary mark is a thing of beauty.

Coverage of the event in the Salisbury Post newspaper notes that a street festival following the announcement will feature, amongst other attractions, "circus performers". Perhaps a circus-themed identity featuring a logo centered on a depiction of a human cannonball? The Kannapolis Cannons or Kannapolis Cannonballs for a name? After all, Kannapolis was established on land owned by Cannon Mills founder James William Cannon.

It's beyond a shame that so many communities have fallen sway to the siren song of landing an affiliated minor league baseball team and committed public monies to the construction of ballparks that primarily benefit privately-held franchises. Worse still that the MLB parent clubs have, through the MiLB facility standards that they've insisted upon, pitted communities against one another in a ceaseless race to keep, or secure, an affiliated farm team. All of that said, its unconscionable that the powers-that-be in MLB would so callously advocate for the elimination of affiliated teams in markets - such as those I cited up-thread - where millions of dollars in public funding have fairly recently been spent to either upgrade existing ballparks or build brand new ones. Frankly, I'd love to see professional baseball's antitrust exemption be given a thorough examination by the Congressional delegations from the states/districts which will be significantly impacted by MLB's proposed reorganization of affiliated minor league ball.

If Major League Baseball's grand reorganization of the affiliated minor leagues comes to pass, the civic leaders in Kinston (NC) - home to the Down East Wood Ducks - will feel relatively lucky if their team is eliminated. After all, the $1.6 million that the City of Kinston spent in 2017 and 2018 to upgrade Grainger Stadium's grandstand, outfield walls, lighting and parking lots in order to lure a Texas Rangers Class A-Advanced farm team to town will seem like a pittance compared to the sums wasted - pardon "invested" - by Bowling Green (KY), Fayetteville (NC) and Kannapolis (NC) in their respective quests to host an MLB-affilated minor league team. * The City of Bowling Green spent $28 million in 2008 ($33.4 million when adjusted for inflation) in order to build Bowling Green Ballpark and land a Class A Midwest League franchise. * The City of Fayetteville spent $38 million in 2017 ($39.6 million today) to construct Segra Stadium and draw a Class A-Advanced Carolina League squad to the community. * The City of Kannapolis spent $6.8 million in 1995 ($11.5 million adjusted for inflation) to build the current home of the municipality's Class A South Atlantic League team, plus another $52 million to construct the brand new ballpark that the franchise will move into next year.

Because the City of Wichita has recently spent $75 million in public money to construct a brand new ballpark with the promise that a Triple A franchise would be setting up shop in the municipality, that's why. It's wonderful that the powers-that-be at Major League Baseball headquarters and amongst the individual owners of the big league franchises have come up with this visionary plan for how they see affiliated minor league baseball being structured moving forward. That said, they'd better hope that they have all of their minor league affiliates ensconced in newly-built and/or significantly-renovated ballparks from the get-go of implementing said plan. Why? Because, after they've unceremoniously shifted the teams in some markets to lower classifications of competition - or, abandoned said cities altogether - they're going to have an awfully tough time convincing government entities to fork over significant amounts of public funding for new ballparks in the future. The optics surrounding the public subsidization of privately-held sports franchises through the construction of arenas, ballparks, and stadiums for said teams is bad enough as it is. Leave it to the suits at MLB to come up with a way to make it look even worse. "Listen, we know you rubes just forked over $75 million for a ballpark thinkin' that you'd land a Triple A team, but the owners of our Minnesota franchise are fixated on havin' their top farmhands just a 20-minute, 12 1/2-mile drive away. Plus, the wacky bastards runnin' the independent team in the market we were eyeballin' outdrew 23 of the 30 affiliated Triple A teams last season! I mean, if you can't beat 'em, have 'em join ya!!! No hard feelings, right? Anyway... we're gonna try to set you folks up with somethin' else. Double A, Single A... it's a little up in the air right now. We'll get back to ya... maybe. In the meantime, I hear the American Association is looking for a market."

Wichita Baseball 2020 unveiled another of its potential team identities back on October 2nd. Rather than revealing a possible team name alongside an illustration, this time just a logo was shared, along with the following message: "Alright, we've taken your feedback and most of you have said it's time to get serious. We're switchin' it up a bit. What do you think the name of this logo should be?" This logo would work for a number of team names - Wichita Windwagons... Wichita Wagonmasters... Wichita Prairie Schooners... Wichita Prairie Clippers. Walt Disney Presents "The Saga of Windwagon Smith" Wichita Riverfest - Admiral Windwagon Smith Wichita Wagonmasters - "The History of the Wichita Wagonmasters" So, to date, Wichita Baseball 2020 has unveiled Wichita River Riders, Wichita 29ers, Wichita Doo Dahs, Wichita Linemen, and this Windwagon-inspired design.

"Maybe" the team will be dubbed the Sea Unicorns? This is Brandiose we're talking about. As such, I'd say that "maybe" there's a chance that the team will luck out and be dubbed Narwhals. The Name-the-Team "contest" has been set up with two of the candidate identities - Narwhals and Sea Unicorns - referencing the same creature (Narwhals are described as "the Unicorn of the Sea" in the team name rationale). That's a sure sign that Brandiose is leaning towards one of those two identities as the front-runner. Given the choice between the relatively staid Narwhals name and the over-the-top Sea Unicorns sobriquet, which do you think Brandiose - the design firm that gave us, amongst others, such monikers as Rumble Ponies, Sod Poodles, and Trash Pandas - is truly championing to team management? As I said, "maybe" there's a chance that the minor league baseball fans of Southeastern Connecticut get to root on the Norwich Narwhals. That said, I think there are much better odds that the Norwich Sea Unicorns take the field, with a primary mark focused upon said namesake mythical creature in all of its single-horned, maned, foreleg-hoofed, and fluke-tailed glory. Perhaps a secondary mark depicting an actual narwhal will be included in the branding package in order to appease adults who want to purchase some team gear. Oh... and I won't be at all surprised if the team's uniforms are eventually unveiled with marketing-speak breathlessly declaring that "the Sea Unicorns are the first professional sports franchise to take the field in home, road and alternate Sunday uniforms featuring rainbow glitter-accented logos, numbering, and piping."

The XFL has registered for trademark protection on what appear to be three secondary logos - one for the Dallas Renegades and a pair for the New York Guardians.

The new primary mark is an improvement. The new word mark is atrocious. The Top Hat complementary mark is, at best, "meh". The walking deacon complementary mark is outstanding and my favorite part of the update.

I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I opine that the Rocket City Trash Pandas brand isn't likely to stick around for anywhere close to the 106 seasons that the Mud Hens name has graced minor league baseball teams in Toledo, Ohio. As for Trash Pandas making it into the 17-year territory of the Albuquerque Isotopes identity's longevity, I'll be impressed when - indeed, if - the Isotopes sobriquet manages to match the 49 seasons that the Dukes name graced minor league ball in New Mexico's most populous city.