Johnny Gaudreau attempts to trademark nickname
List 'business skills' under a strength in Johnny Gaudreau's scouting report.
The Flames rookie has filed a patent and trademark application in Canada and the United States for the name "Johnny Hockey" according to a report by TSN. He hence follows a tradition set by Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel who did the same thing when he was in college at Texas A&M.
Like Manziel, Gaudreau wants to slap his name on sports equipment and apparel, not to mention athletic shirts, sleepwear, athletic tops, shorts, skirts and gloves.
Gaudreau's application is pending in both countries.
"We were concerned that people were going to abuse the Johnny Hockey name, coming out with Johnny Hockey shirts and stuff and we wanted to make sure that did not occur," Lewis Gross, Gaudreau's agent, told TSN. "We felt that Johnny was going to be a special player and if he takes off the way we felt he could, he has the potential to have endorsement opportunities that could be very valuable."
If you think about it, this actually makes a lot of sense, if Gaudreau wants to at least get some cut on his famous nickname. How many people are going to slap 'Johnny Hockey' on many different types of gear to take advantage of his popularity?
But there are a few issues with this. For one, what will happen if say Gaudreau falls off, kind of like Manziel has. This will look a little conceited. Also, what if other hockey players named 'Johnny' who come along after Gaudreau?
Alas, Gaudreau got there first, so he gets to own it. But, what will Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel try to patent? Can it please be 'Next One' so we can stop hearing that whenever there's a great draft prospect?
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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