Trademarks Become NFL Trash Talk Fodder

It’s no secret that we are big fans of trademarks, but we understand that it’s not an exciting topic for most folks. So, we were super excited to see trademarks become the center piece of a widely-discussed Twitter beef between two NFL teams this Saturday.

The feud started when the Redskins foolishly decided to go after the Panthers on their home turf the day before the two teams were supposed to play:

Carolina is #Redskins country. #HTTR pic.twitter.com/mwOxn2IGxS

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) November 22, 2015

Before picking this fight, the Redskins should have probably done a better job assessing their vulnerabilities. First, the team has made headlines for years over the offensive nature of its name, having recently lost its federal trademark registration for the name. Second, the Redskins aren’t that good at social media. Third, the Redskins aren’t that good at football either.

The Panthers fired back with a slam on the Redskins’ recent trademark troubles:

@Redskins Good luck with getting a trademark on that

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) November 22, 2015

In the words of Liz Lemon, “Ya burnt!” Everyone immediately crowned the Panthers victorious with tweets like this:

https://twitter.com/CommishOnline/status/668248842031206401

And this:

@Panthers @Redskins pic.twitter.com/SfNacTVpVj

— Jordan Heck (@JordanHeckFF) November 22, 2015

And this:

.@Panthers @Redskins Panthers social media guy leaving work today pic.twitter.com/sKbJnnMSVa

— The Crown Club (@CrownClubCLT) November 22, 2015

The Redskins should have just stayed down after this one punch knock out, but decided instead to respond with a pretty terrible come-back.

@Panthers shouldn't be too hard after tomorrow.

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) November 22, 2015

Sad trombone noise. In addition to this being a weak response, it was also untrue. It actually got waaaaaaaay harder the next day. The Panthers stomped the Redskins 44-16.