Skuta's complaint said that he wanted to sell merchandise to benefit his sack lunch campaignGETTY IMAGES
The Jaguars "filed an application for the trademark to 'Sacksonville,'" but former LB Dan Skuta has "filed an opposition, saying he came up with the phrase, has been using it for years and the Jaguars have been supporting it," according to Frank Schwab of YAHOO SPORTS. Skuta "played eight NFL seasons," including the '15 and '16 seasons with the Jaguars. Skuta "started using 'Sacksonville' before it got popular last season," when the team became "one of the best defenses in the NFL and it became a popular hashtag on social media." According to the filing, Skuta "started the Instagram account @sacksonville" in July '15. His @DefendDuval Twitter account "uses Sacksonville as its name." Both accounts have a "custom Sacksonville logo," and Skuta "seems to have branded it well." Skuta's complaint said that he "wanted to sell merchandise to benefit his 'sack lunch campaign' to donate school lunches to children in need." Skuta said that the Jags were "aware of his use of 'Sacksonville' and even promoted it." Court documents show that the team tagged Skuta's posts and "liked 'Sacksonville' on its Instagram account." Skuta's problem is that the Jags have "started to sell merchandise with the hashtag #Sacksonville on it" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/12). In Jacksonville, Andrew Pantazi notes Skuta "tried to trademark the term" in '15 before his first season with the Jags. However, he "abandoned the application" in the middle of '16. Jags DT Calais Campbell's wife also "filed a trademark application asking for the rights to 'mayor of Sacksonville,'" a title given to Campbell by Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. The trademark office said that Campbell's wife "just needed to show that he was associated with the applicant's goods and services" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 9/13).
