Cal, the Farm, unite against the NFL

Yes, the 110th Big Game is still about 8 months away. But this article in the SF Chron today gives me more reason to dislike the NFL.

Each year it sends out cease-and-desist letters to businesses and
advertising firms demanding that such terms not be used for commercial purposes.

But now the NFL is pushing into Cal and Stanford territory.

The NFL wants to trademark the phrase "The Big Game."

...

But the Big Game also has a very specific application for Stanford University and UC Berkeley, whose annual football game dates back to 1892. It has been known as the Big Game since 1902, according to San Francisco author Ron Fimrite, who is writing a history of Cal football.

As Bob Murphy, a former Stanford baseball player who has been an analyst on Stanford radio broadcasts for many years, said, "This game started way before there was anything called the National Football League. Besides, it's such a common expression, I don't know how you would trademark it. It's like copyrighting 'hello' and 'goodbye.' It's kind of silly.''

Former Cal football coach Joe Kapp fumed when he heard about the NFL plan. "Traditions and the names of traditions are meaningful in college football,'' he said. "What's next? The game between the two greatest universities in the world that play big-time football is the Big Game. It's a tradition. It's history. That's the true meaning of sport.''

...

Michael Drucker, vice president and associated general counsel for Collegiate Licensing, said Cal and Stanford "have developed a lot of equity in the game and ancillary products like apparel. In my opinion, the NFL could never assert against the universities that they can no longer use this phrase because of more than 100 years of use.''

He said the NFL's action might prompt Cal and Stanford to seek their own collective trademark of the Big Game, just as Alabama and Auburn collectively registered the name "Iron Bowl'' several years ago and as Texas and Oklahoma are in the process of doing with the "Red River Rivalry.''

I can't wait to see the words "Big Game" with a small "TM" next to the phrase.

UPDATE: this from King Kaufman at Salon:

Stanford and California, the two Bay Area universities whose annual rivalry football game has been known as "the Big Game" for more than 100 years, are among those who are considering a formal objection, though the NFL has said it has no interest in messing with college traditions, only in keeping advertisers from associating themselves with the Super Bowl without paying rights fees.

Full disclosure: This column graduated from Cal, twice. It has no particular interest in the university's trademark battles but just wants to mention at this point that Stanford is a nasty little place. [emphasis added]

UPDATE 2: The NFL punted. No trademark is being pursued.