Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson have been given another reason to be annoyed with the New England Patriots.
The North Carolina head coach and his girlfriend, through Belichick’s company TCE Rights Management, filed for over a dozen trademarks in April. According to ESPN’s Michael Rothstein, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied four of those applications due to “likelihood of confusion” with existing trademarks.
The owner of those existing trademarks? The Patriots. The four applications that were denied were for “Do Your Job (Bill’s Version),” “Ignore the Noise (Bill’s Version),” “The Belestrator (Bill’s Version)” and “No Days Off (Bill’s Version).”
New England owns the rights to all four trademarks, sans the “(Bill’s Version)” part. Per the report, TCE Rights Management’s four trademark applications were denied because consumers may be “confused, mistaken, or deceived” by the true source of the products or services being sold that make use of such expressions.
The result won’t help Belichick’s already deteriorating relationship with the Patriots. The veteran coach recently banned New England’s scouts from North Carolina’s practice facility, leaving them unable to get a close look at any Tar Heels players in person.
Belichick explained that he made the decision because he’s currently “not welcome” in the Patriots’ facility. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, however, does not believe that to be the case.
