This is just a bear of a trademark problem. The Chicago Bears are gearing up a trademark opposition to an Austin bar’s pending application for a bear’s face but are the Bears being “unbearable” in this trademark tussle?

Haymaker is a bar located in Austin, TX that has TVs for sports but does not want to be known as a sports bar. Haymaker describes itself as simple, neighborhood bar like the ones of the Midwest and Northeast that serve simple, hearty food like Poutine and “big, burly comfort sandwiches”. (I could go for a burly comfort sandwich about now.) The color scheme on the Haymaker’s website features orange as a prominent color and a picture of a roaring bear in orange and black that can be seen to the right. The image is prominent on the bar’s Facebook page and even plastered on drink glasses. Just from looking at pictures of the bar and its social media, there doesn’t appear to be any reference to the Chicago Bears but there is to the City of Chicago.

In December 2014, Haymaker filed its trademark registration application for the black and white image that can be seen below in a class that covers bar and restaurant services. On May 5, 2015, the trademark was published for opposition and the Chicago Bears have requested an extension of time to oppose the mark. This is the usual first step that gives the Bears more time to decide whether to let the mark go through, gear up its opposition or try to negotiate a settlement with the Haymaker. The Bears are the owners of the trademark that can be seen side by side to with the Haymaker’s below.

The question for the Trademark Office is are the two marks confusingly similar? Evidence that the bar is trying to confuse costumers may be the use of the prominent orange color and the bar’s obvious influence from the Midwest; the bar even advertises a Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich on its menu. But putting this aside and looking at the two marks alone, would you associate the Haymaker’s mark with the Bears’ mark?

Its not hard to see a similarity but is this just the generic look of a wild animal that the Bears are seeking to protect? In fact, if you Google “cartoon bear face” many other images pop up that feature growling bears that all look similar to the Bears’ trademark. If the appearance of a mark is too generic, it is not entitled to that much trademark protection. Could this be a future problem for the Bears??? The Bears have until July 4th to oppose the mark, play dead, or flee from the fight.

