BizTech Law Blog

Riley, through his company Riles & Company, Inc., trademarked the term in 1995 and, over the years, has added additional registrations, expanding the team’s trademarks to cover other merchandise in addition to apparel. Riley also was sure to not only trademark “three-peat”, but numerous variants of the term like “three peat”, “3 peat”, “threepeat”, and so on.

The Chiefs are not the only team who has approached Riley in the past to license his intellectual property. Numerous sports teams have used the term “three-peat” throughout the course of their successful seasons, such as the Chicago Bulls, the New York Yankees, and the Los Angeles Lakers.

According to the Kansas City Star article, the Chiefs have made a deal with Riley to use the phrase if they win the Super Bowl this Sunday. The price of the deal is unknown. Riley has stated he donates a majority of proceeds he derives from the trademark to charity.

Often, businesses don’t take the necessary steps to ensure approval from a trademark owner when using a popular but protected slogan, resulting in infringement. Kansas City’s proactive planning is an excellent example of a business using an agreement to appropriately utilize and license another’s intellectual property.

If you have questions or concerns about trademark infringement or other aspects of intellectual property (IP), please contact a Foster Swift IP attorney.