Los Angeles is about to have the Rams back but one man tried to grab the team name before the big announcement. An “entrepreneurial” individual, anticipating the approval of the move to California, filed to register a trademark for LOS ANGELES RAMS OF INGLEWOOD but the Trademark Office and the Rams stopped the trick play for a big loss.

The Rams never unpack their bags for too long as the NFL team always seems to be on the move. In 1936, the Cleveland Rams headed west to California and became the Los Angeles Rams. The team played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 1946 until 1979 and then relocated to Anaheim, where they moved into a reconstructed Anaheim Stadium. After the 1994 season, the Rams left California and head back east to St. Louis, Missouri. The team has remained in St. Louis until this week when it was announced that it was heading back to Los Angeles again to play in the Memorial Coliseum. The next move comes in 2019 when the team will move into a new stadium located in Inglewood.

The rumors of the proposed move have been circulating for years and a California individual had what he must have thought was a million dollar idea. In March 2015, Tyler Victor, who doesn’t appear to have any relationship with the team, filed a trademark registration for the LOS ANGELES RAMS OF INGLEWOOD in a class that cover hats and t-shirts. With the cool new trademark, Victor could sell his own Los Angeles Rams gear or even sell the mark to the team if he wanted to. A million dollar idea, right???

In June 2015, the Trademark Office issues an Office Action citing its problems with the registration. The major hurdle, despite being out of Los Angeles for over 20 years, the Rams still kept the LOS ANGELES RAM trademark alive and well. The Trademark Office, of course, found the proposed LOS ANGELES RAMS OF INGLEWOOD too similar to LOS ANGELES RAMS as there is a high degree of probability that people would confuse the marks and think they are related when they are not. The Trademark Office gave Victor six months to respond to the office action. Victor had until December 29th to respond but did not do so.

At this time, the proposed mark appears dead but Victor may revive his attempt in the future but it will likely meet with similar defeat.

