I am an unabashed college basketball fan, and in the winter, my TV (if on) is almost always tuned to college basketball. So when I saw the story of Anthony Davis, a talented Kentucky star and presumed #1 draft pick in tonight’s NBA draft, apply to trademark his unibrow, I raised one of my two, separate eyebrows. Maybe Anthony Davis has a case of Linsanity?
Mr. Davis’ intent-to-use filings for FEAR THE BROW and RAISE THE BROW include, among other goods & services, charitable services, endorsement services, after-shave, hair-care preparations, lunch bags, some apparel, and wrapping paper. Well, I, for one, am looking forward to wrapping gifts in FEAR THE BROW wrapping paper. Interestingly, there is an actual-use based filing for FEAR THE BROW by BlueZone in Kentucky on “clothing, namely, footwear, headwear, tops, bottoms, shirts, pants, t-shirts, hooded sweat shirts, sweat pants, sweat shirts, and sweats.”
According to Mr. Davis, he doesn’t “want anyone to try to grow a unibrow because of [him] and then try to make money off of it.” Fascinating, but I don’t think anyone has ever attempted or will attempt to grow a unibrow, and his filings for FEAR THE BROW and RAISE THE BROW do not cover the unibrow alone. I keep picturing a middle school boy with a unibrow attempting to get his lunch money back from a bully. “Fear the Brow, Bobby.” Intimidating.
So will Mr. Davis’ application encourage others to trademark their appearance in our increasingly image-centered society? Other athletes have had well-known facial features: Michael Strahan’s gap-toothed smile, Troy Polamalu’s insane mane (seriously, how does all that hair fit into a football helmet), Joe Mauer’s side-burns, Rollie Fingers’ mustache. Will this lead to celebrities like Kim Kardashian trying to trademark certain assets of their own?
What do you think about Anthony Davis’ BROW trademark registration applications?