The Cubs this season have been MLB’s "most active user of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board," according to Lauren Zumbach of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The board "handles cases where people or companies want to oppose another party’s application for a trademark, appeal a denied application or cancel an existing trademark." Board records show that since the start of the '16 season, the Cubs, through MLB, have gone to the board to "oppose a trademark application 47 times -- about four times as frequently" as the runner-up Yankees. Even before the start of last year’s postseason run, MLB and the Cubs "sought a court order giving them advance permission to work with law enforcement to seize counterfeit or trademark-infringing merchandise for sale outside Wrigley Field." This "doesn’t necessarily mean the Cubs are more aggressive." The team’s cap logo -- a relatively unadorned "C" -- might run into "more unintentional mimics than a more complicated design like the Yankees’ interlocking 'NY.'" Last year’s World Series title "appeared to have prompted at least a handful of trademark applications." The Cubs and MLB have often "dropped objections after negotiating to make sure a new trademark wouldn’t allow a logo too close to the team’s, or wouldn’t compete with products and services the Cubs or a brand partner could sell" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/29).
