"Who Dat!"

           This week I had the chance to learn about intellectual property. Intellectual property has four major areas including copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets. Trademark infringement is an issue in the sports industry. One incident that occurred last year involved the New Orleans Saints. The NFL sent out cease and desist orders to tee shirt shops in New Orleans for printing “Who Dat” on tee shirts. This is all because the NFL felt that these local tee shirt companies had taken the New Orleans Saints phrase “Who Dat” without permission.
           The Saints chant “Who dat say dey gonna beat dem saints” is used within the New Orleans area in support of their New Orleans Saints football team. This chant was shortened to “Who Dat” so that it could be printed on merchandise. This phrase is now used on many tee shirts that are associated with Saints and the NFL. The NFL felt that tee shirt companies should not be able to use the phrase as its trademark infringement. The community felt that they owned the phrase since it was a signature to the community. On the other hand two brothers from New Orleans, Sal and Steve Monistere, claim that they own the rights to the phrase since Steve produced the chant in 1983. They also own a tee shirt shop in New Orleans called WhoDat Incorporated. So who really owned the phrase “Who Dat?” This was the question that no one knew the answer to.

The NFL worked aggressively to protect the league and the Saints; however, they ended up having to retreat. The fans of New Orleans were outraged about the whole situation. They felt that the NFL was attacking the community to get more money. The NFL responded by writing a letter telling the city that the NFL did not own the rights to the phrase, the leur-de-lis symbol or the team colors. The NFL told the small tee shirt companies they could not print the “Who Dat” with any reference to the Saints or the NFL without specific trademark agreements. This was to protect the team and to ensure that the Saints trademarks were protected.

I personally think that the NFL went in fighting to protect the New Orleans Saints. The trademark, colors and phrases all work together to provide an image for the team. I know that the community is a large part of the New Orleans Saints. They should be able to see the value in the team trademarks. The NFL was attacked because they were portrayed as the bully taking something from a city that had already lost so much. I feel like the community was trying to keep the tradition alive. If the NFL had went in as a protector of the team rather than just sending out cease and desist orders things might have happened differently.