Newcastle United Football Club’s UK trade mark application for the iconic Geordie phrase ‘HOWAY THE LADS’ has been met with opposition from a third party. The trade mark application was filed by the club last March, two days before its victory in the Carabao Cup against Liverpool.
The application was made for a wide range of goods across classes 11, 25, 32, and 33 including football shirts, various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and other assorted merchandise. The phrase is widely associated with the club and is used above the iconic tunnel at St James’ Park as well as on the back of the men’s team’s home kit. Newcastle United successfully registered ‘HOWAY THE LASSES’ last August, filing in the same trade mark classes and for the same goods as have been applied as in this application, however the earlier application received no third-party opposition.
This is not the first application filed by the club, the ‘Magpies’ have registered a plethora of trade marks including figurative marks for variations of the club’s badge, as well as word marks covering phrases such as ‘TOON ARMY’, ‘CAFE 1892’ and of course, ‘NEWCASTLE UNITED’ in recent years. Some have argued that if the club is registering the ‘HOWAY THE LADS’ trade mark, it could be harmful to small local businesses that produce club-related memorabilia, as the club would own the exclusive right to use the phrase in respect of the goods covered in the application.
It will be interesting to see how the opposition proceedings play out and whether the club will be awarded the mark in question. The exact grounds on which the opponent is seeking to rely are unknown, but it is likely that the club will be able to put forward significant evidence of its use of the Geordie parlance dating back some time.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own Intellectual Property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
