There are signs the New Jersey Nets are considering renaming themselves the "Brooklyn New Yorkers" in two years when they move from Jersey to the NYC metropolitan area, and we just can't help but wonder if the Nets, or New Yorkers, are a lot better than this.
Two Philadelphia lawyers have filed for trademark protection for the name, along with three possible logos.
[Related: Turf war! Nets buy giant billboard near Madison Square Garden]
NetsDaily did a little digging, and this is what it came up with:
The logos, more concepts than finished drawings, make it clear the trademarks are for a Brooklyn basketball team. In one, a basketball player straddles the Brooklyn Bridge. In another, the words, "Brooklyn New Yorkers" fronts a basketball featuring a world map while in a third, another version of "Brooklyn New Yorkers" is imposed on a basketball. The Patent and Trademark Office continues to review the applications.
The decision to seek trademark protection around the time the team informed the NBA it would be changing its name from the "New Jersey Nets". The NBA requires a team to file two years prior to a name change but it does not require a team to state what the new name will be. Under an agreement with the Empire State Development Corp., the Nets' new name must include either "Brooklyn" or "New York" in its name.
This is where I have to remind you that the Nets are under no obligation to change their name, because they've been the New York Nets before. The franchise was originally an ABA team that played out in Long Island, named the "Nets" so as to fit in with the already-established New York Jets, and New York Mets. "Nets" never was, and doesn't have to be, a Jersey thing.
So there's really nothing wrong with the Brooklyn Nets, decision-makers. The "Brooklyn" lettering in the proposed logo is pretty cool, it looks like the sort of tagging you see on a subway car, but the "Brooklyn New Yorkers?"
I'm not feeling it. What's your take?
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Tuesday, December 14th 2010 at 11:20PM
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