Has Jimmy Butler Registered His Jimmy Buckets Trademarks?

If you are watching the NBA playoffs you probably have seen all the ‘JIMMY BUCKETS’ signs popping up around the Wells Fargo Center.  This leads to the question: “Has Jimmy Butler registered his Jimmy Buckets trademark?”

And the answer is that Jimmy Butler has filed seven trademark applications for Jimmy Buckets, but none of them have matured into a registration.

Butler’s applications were all filed in November of 2015, so you may be wondering why these trademarks haven’t registered after almost four years. The reason is that Jimmy Butler’s company has not made the required filings with the USPTO to show that he is actively selling the merchandise listed in these applications under the Jimmy Buckets trademark.

In order to obtain any trademark registration, the applicant must show that the trademark is being used on product packaging, and that the products are actually being sold. So, in this case, Jimmy Buckets has seven different applications. One is for memorabilia display frames to hold basketballs and picture frames. Another is for sports bags and athletic bags- Imagine having your own Jimmy Buckets sports bag. Next, there’s one for trading cards, book covers, and bookmarks. And the list goes on. Before these registrations can be granted, the USPTO will need to see actual Jimmy Buckets branded merchandise.

Now, you may say, “Well, Josh, how do we even know these are Jimmy Butler’s trademarks, because it’s owned by Spring Creek Entertainment LLC and not Jimmy Butler?”  During the application process, the Patent and Trademark Office said the same thing. Whenever a trademark application is a nickname of a living individual, that individual has to sign and submit a consent. Back on November 3rd, 2016, Jimmy Butler signed this consent that says the name Jimmy Buckets is indeed the nickname of Jimmy Butler, a living individual, and that he, Jimmy Butler, consents to the use and registration of his nickname by this company.

So, we’ve got seven pending Jimmy Buckets trademark applications just waiting to be registered as soon as he can get the products into the marketplace.

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Josh Gerben, Esq.

Josh Gerben, Esq. is the founder and principal of Gerben IP. In 2008, Mr. Gerben started the firm to provide high-quality trademark services at reasonable prices. Today, he is recognized by the World Trademark Review as a top trademark filer, having registered over 7,500 trademarks. The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and may not be relied on as legal advice.