Miami Dolphins File Trademark Application for MIAMIRACLE Five Days After Walk-Off Victory Over Patriots

On December 9, 2018, with 7 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Miami Dolphins took the ball 69 yards, lateraling it twice, to beat the New England Patriots 34-33. You can see a video of the play here. To Patriots fans, it was a nightmare. To Dolphins fans, it became the "Miami Miracle." And now the Miami Dolphins appear to be capitalizing on that phrase with a federal trademark application for MIAMIRACLE.

The Dolphins (or, more accurately, the Miami Dolphins, Ltd.) filed the trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on December 14. The application covers a wide variety of goods and services (mostly merchandise and novelty items) across 9 different classes, including the following:

• Computer game software and disks and video game cartridges (Class 9);
• Jewelry and watches (Class 14);
• Magazines and books featuring football; pens; pencils; stickers; decals (Class 16);
• All-purpose sport bags, athletic bags, and carrying bags (Class 18);
• Wall fixtures, namely, three-dimensional wooden designs to be attached to the walls of rooms (Class 20);
• Mugs; beverageware; glassware (Class 21);
• A variety of apparel including T-shirts, sleepwear, athletic uniforms, and jerseys (Class 25);
• Toys and sporting goods (Class 28); and
• Entertainment services in the form of professional football games and exhibitions (Class 41).

The Dolphins filed this application on an intent-to-use basis, meaning the NFL team will need to actually start using MIAMIRACLE as a trademark in conjunction will all the goods and services listed in the application before the term can be registered as a trademark. TMEP 806.01(b); 15 USC 1051(b).

This isn't the first NFL team to file a federal trademark application for a "miracle." Last year, the Minnesota Vikings filed trademark applications for MINNESOTA MIRACLE and MINNEAPOLIS MIRACLE after their win against the Saints in last year's NFL playoffs. Most of those applications, which I blogged about here, are close to registration.