Everyone has Heard of Cybersquatting, but do You Know About Trademark-squatting? Consider this Trademark Application for “Sergio Garcia”

Since Sergio is currently leading the British Open I decided to check out what, if any, US trademarks he owns. During my research I came upon an interesting trademark application.

I was not surprised to find a pending trademark application for the mark SERGIO GARCIA directed to golf products and clothing. But something in the application caught my eye… it was filed by Sergio Garcia himself. Odd I thought… would the “real” Sergio Garcia really file his own trademark application? No, of course not.

A little further investigation yielded the address of the applicant in Highland, Indiana. While I have no idea where the PGA’s Sergio Garcia resides, I would bet that it is not in Highland, Indiana.

I suspect that some guy named Sergio Garcia living in Indiana is thinking he is going to cash-in when the PGA Sergio decides to start a clothing line or introduce his own line of golf products. The agent of the PGA’s Sergio should have insisted that Sergio protect his name years ago! (So, PGA Sergio… if you are looking for a new agent, I would be willing to give it a try)

David Dawsey – Monitoring Golf Industry Trademark Litigation

PS – This is not the first time someone has tried to lock-up the Sergio Garcia name for golf products. Back in 1999 a guy who is not named Sergio Garcia tried to do the same thing, but eventually abandoned the application. The 1999 application may be viewed here.