Josh Gerben Breaks Down the USPTO’s Refusal of Caleb Williams’ ‘Iceman’ Trademark for ESPN

Caleb Williams’ trademark application for ‘Iceman’ has been refused by the USPTO for a likelihood of confusion to an existing registration owned by LaCrosse Footwear.

Trademark attorney Josh Gerben explained to ESPN what the the refusal means for Williams’ trademark. 

In its refusal, the USPTO states that the trademarks are identical in appearance, sound and meaning, especially when reviewed in connection to the existing registration’s goods and services.

The existing registration protects the ‘Iceman’ name for insulated boots and boot liners. Williams’ trademark application seeks to protect the name for sporting goods, water bottles, athletic bags and more, in addition to clothing.

“They make the connection between the other goods in Caleb’s application, saying that even though these are just insulated boots and Caleb is claiming shirts and hats and pants and all these other things, that those are related goods,” said Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney with Gerben IP.

“The initial refusal is not unusual,” noted Gerben. “USPTO data shows 63.5% of recent trademark application have initially been refused, however not every denial is issued due to conflicts with other registered trademarks.”

He continued, “If Williams decides to appeal the ruling, he might have a good case.”

“The registration that they’re citing here is for obviously a very limited product line. Literally insulated boots,” Gerben said. “Look, it might be harder for him to get Iceman registered for a brand of clothing items because of that, but there’s other things in his application that he could possibly still wind up with a registration here.”

Source: Rothstein, Michael. https://www.espn.com/. “Caleb Williams’ attempt to trademark ‘Iceman’ initially refused”. 25 June 2026.