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Tim Tebow Files for Copyright on "Tebowing"

According to The Daily and ESPN, beloved faithful New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow is very close to winning a trademark on the term “Tebowing” after submitting an application last year. Several others had hoped to cash in and had filed separate applications for a trademark on the term, referring to Tebow’s habit of kneeling in prayer on the playing field. But the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied all other requests, saying they were a “false connection to a living individual.” Notice of the trademark application was published for opposition on October 9 for a 30-day period allowing for objections.

Tebow says he does not plan to exploit the copyright at the moment, but rather wanted it to protect the term from exploitation by others. He told Newsday, “It got hyped up as Tebowing, so [the trademark] was more to just control how it’s used, make sure it’s used in the right way.” In the CNN BeliefBlog, Tebow’s attorney, Anthony M. Keats, was reported to explain, “Inevitably, in today’s commercial arena of sports marketing, consumers will be led to believe that at a minimum, Tim Tebow or the Tim Tebow Foundation has approved of all of the third-party applicant’s goods in the context of licensing; or, what is even more damaging, that Tim Tebow is actually connected with or associated with the goods of the cited applicants when he is not.”

The CNN BeliefBlog says Tebow has been outspoken about his Christian faith since college; he would write Bible verses in his eye black and frequently mention God in his news conferences and his autobiography. This trademark was only one of seven copyrights Tebow has requested relating to the term.