Bills Mafia Trademarks Are Still Unfinished Business!

Bills Mafia Trademarks Are Still Unfinished Business!

January 16, 2024

The Buffalo Bills LLC (the “Bills”) have applied to register two “BILLS MAFIA” trademarks, namely, “BILLS MAFIA” in standard characters (SN 90248260) and “BILLS MAFIA” in stylized form (SN 90248264).

Each application seeks to register the Bills Mafia trademark for two types of goods, namely, medical masks, and a variety of clothing items ranging from baseball caps to wristbands.

Both applications were “allowed” in December 2021 by the USPTO, but the Bills have failed, thus far, to complete the process and receive the actual registrations.

The Bills have not filed “Statements of Use” for either mark or supported those Statements of Use with specimens of products being sold displaying either mark. Instead, the Bills have filed a fourth extension of time within which a Statement of Use and supporting specimens must be filed.

That extension gives the Bills until mid-June of 2024 to file a Statement of Use and supporting specimens showing the mark in use with the goods. The Bills also have the option to file a fifth request for extension of time, to mid-December of 2024. That fifth extension of time, however, will be the last! Either the Bills file a Statement of Use with appropriate specimens showing use of the marks with the goods by mid-December 2024, or their applications will be deemed “abandoned”.

For now, however, the Bills’ focus (and our focus) is on the Kansas City Chiefs coming to Buffalo on January 21, 2024. The “BILLS MAFIA” trademarks are on the backburner for the time being.

Go Bills!

Les Greenbaum is an experienced attorney who focuses his practice in the areas of trademark, copyright, entertainment, art and sports law, unfair competition, and related litigation. He can be reached at Gross Shuman P.C. by calling 716-854-4300 ext. 230 or [email protected].