MLB's Attempt to Trademark 'Play Ball' Rejected in Latest USPTO Ruling

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has rejected Major League Baseball's attempt to trademark the phrase, "play ball."

Matt Moret of The Athletic relayed the office's news on the decision.

"Registration is refused because the applied-for mark is a slogan or term that does not function as a trademark or service mark to indicate the source of applicant's goods and/or services and to identify and distinguish them from others," the ruling stated, per Moret.

"…Because consumers are accustomed to seeing this term or expression commonly used in everyday speech by many different sources, they would not perceive it as a mark identifying the source of applicant's goods and/or services but rather as only conveying an informational message."

The 91-page final action listed some examples and noted that "terms and expressions that merely convey an informational message are not registrable." Past examples included "investing in American jobs" and "drive safely."

MLB initially filed for the trademark in Jan. 2022. The league was looking to use the play ball slogan for clothing, including (but not limited to) headwear, shirts, uniforms and jerseys.

Per the USPTO, MLB can "respond by filing (1) a request for reconsideration; and/or (2) an appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board." Moret noted that MLB has three months to file the appeal.

According to ESPN's Michael Rothstein, MLB does own (or has applied for) roughly 200 active trademarks.

Examples include the MLB logo itself as well as "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "Home Run Derby" and "Spring Training," all for clothing.