Inside Trademarks Trademark Analytics, Research & Strategy

First “Who Dat”, Now “Finish Strong” – Saints Success Behind Another Trademark Dispute

New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees is widely known for using the "Finish Strong " mantra as part of a motivating pregame chant with his team this past football season.  As we have discussed earlier, the Saints recent success generated a lot of new interest in, and demand for, apparel associated with the Saints and their historic Super Bowl-winning season. 

The potential opportunity that this created was not lost on Reebok; and it recently began selling t-shirts with the phrase "We Finish Strong" ... "We are the Saints" in combination with a graphic of the Saints in a team huddle.  

Unfortunately for Reebok, another apparel company - Finish Strong, LLC - asserts that it owns earlier rights to the "Finish Strong" mark for clothing based on a October 6, 1998 trademark registration (No. 2,193, 411).   Dan Green, the owner of Illinois-based Finish Strong, LLC, has promoted a line of clothing for over a decade under the Finish Strong brand.  He also authored a book, reportedly selling over 100,000 copies, that includes the Finish Strong phrase in its title.  There is even a Finish Strong movie based on Green's book. 

On Feb 25, 2010, Finish Strong filed a 27-page complaint, including exhibits, alleging trademark infringement and other related claims against Reebok in federal court in Illinois. 

The complaint, provided below, is an interesting read.  Like many small companies that file suits against large companies in "David vs. Goliath" situations, Finish Strong positions itself for the highest possible damages claim, by really emphasizing the amount of time, effort and expense invested to launch and build the Finish Strong brand in its complaint.

The complaint also mentions that Drew Brees' charity, the Brees Dream Foundation, licensed the "Finish Strong" trademark from Finish Strong LLC to use on T-shirts sold to benefit the charity.  Accordingly, as a licensee (and a really important one for Finish Strong, LLC), neither Brees nor his charity are parties in this litigation. 

The Times-Picayune news reported that prior to the start of this past season, Drew Brees distributed copies of the Finish Strong book to teammates, along with rubber bracelets and T-shirts bearing the message.  Later, as the season progressed, the "Finish Strong" slogan became closley connnected with the Saints during the team's recent winning season. 

As a result of this lawsuit, we expect that Reebok is probably now trying to negotiate a similar licensing deal with Finish Strong, LLC as away to settle this suit.

On a lighter note, while not party to this litigation either, Chicago Bears fans have a number of significant issues with this case as well:

• Why was Finish Strong, LLC, a Chicago area-based company, distributing copies of its motivational book to Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints?
• Did Finish Strong, LLC  send copies to Bear QB Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears?
• If so, why didn't Cutler and the Bears adopt the Finish Strong slogan and go the Super Bowl this year?

This case may settle before we get all of those answers, but until then here's the complaint.
Finish Strong, LLC v. Reebok International, Ltd.

Original article published Mar. 1, 2010

Update published Mar. 6, 2010