Josh Gerben Analyzes Bill Belichick Trademark Refusals for ESPN

Four trademarks, filed by Bill Belichick, were refused by the USPTO for a “likelihood of confusion” with registered trademarks. The cited trademarks are owned by Belichick’s former team, The New England Patriots.

Josh Gerben spoke to ESPN about the refusal. 

“It was very obvious that the USPTO would refuse these applications from the start,” said trademark attorney Josh Gerben of the firm Gerben IP. “They’re too similar. Like, I can’t say I’m going to make ‘Nike shoes (Josh’s version).’ Once somebody has a trademark registered on a name or a phrase, you’re not able to just simply add something to it and get it registered.”

In this kind of situation, the USPTO typically doesn’t inform the current owner (in this case the Patriots) about the refusal or the potentially competing application, says Gerben.

“The only real logical next legal step,” said Gerben, would be to challenge whether the Patriots had still been using the trademarks or whether Belichick had ownership of the trademarks in his contract. “We don’t know what the contract says.”

Source: Rothstein, Michael. https://www.espn.com. “Four trademark applications by Bill Belichick refused”. 8 September 2025.