Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Tim Tebow is in a legal battle over possession of the term “Tebowing,” which has become a viral pop-culture craze around the Internet.
Jared Kleinstein, the man behind the website www.tebowing.com filed paperwork with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the rights to Tebowing. He’s thought to be the creator of the term and helped drive its popularity.
That didn’t stop Tebow from having his high-priced Beverly Hills attorney respond to Kleinstein’s application some two months later with a letter of protest. Newsday reports Anthony Keats, Tebow’s lawyer, argued that Tebow should have ownership of the term, while anyone else owning it “is likely to cause some confusion.”
Similar to when he was playing quarterback for the Broncos, Tebow was victorious. The trademark office’s examining attorney turned down Kleinstein’s request last month on what Newsday claimed was the basis of “false connection” to a living individual.
The 24-year-old creator of Tebowing.com has until Aug. 22 to respond to the trademark attorney’s letter. Law experts feel he’ll have a hard time winning rights to the term.
Kleinstein admits that selling T-shirts on the site has been a money maker, but he hasn’t been able to give up his day job at a real estate company.
“If you told me tomorrow I got rejected on the trademark and would never have control over the merchandise … bummer,” Kleinstein told Newsday. “But I’ve been enjoying myself and I’ve been having fun with this process…I wasn’t in this in the first place to make money.”
Additionally, a fan from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., also had his patent request denied. He’ll also have six months to respond.
— WRITTEN BY Ben Maller Follow Ben Maller on Twitter @BenMaller & FULL STORY HERE
