Latest news with #No.8s
CBS News
05-04-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Ravens' Lamar Jackson, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. resolve battle for No. 8
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s trademark dispute with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson didn't take long to hit a red light. Two days after Jackson filed an opposition claim with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over the NASCAR legend's attempt to trademark a No. 8 for merchandising, Earnhardt announced Friday on social media that his JR Motorsports team had secured the rights to use one stylized No. 8 — a bold, slanted logo that Earnhardt made famous — and would move away from the team's original No. 8. An Earnhardt company, DEJ Holdings, applied to trademark two stylized No. 8s last year. Jackson, who holds the trademark to "Era 8 By Lamar Jackson," challenged the simpler version that JR Motorsports had used. This story by Jonas Shaffer continues. Read the rest at The Baltimore Banner: Ravens' Lamar Jackson, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. resolve battle for No.8
Fox Sports
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
The battle for No. 8: Lamar Jackson vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. once co-wrote a book titled "Driver #8," but another famous No. 8 — Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson — is challenging Earnhardt's race team's ability to trademark a No. 8. An Earnhardt company, DEJ Holdings, applied to trademark two stylized No. 8s last year. One was the version that Earnhardt used when driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. (owned by Earnhardt Jr.'s stepmother, Teresa) and another version, which is currently used by Earnhardt's JR Motorsports. The bolder, slanted version — the one Earnhardt Jr. made famous during his formative years as a driver — has gone unchallenged. But the simpler one that JR Motorsports uses was challenged by Jackson, who holds the trademark to Era 8 By Lamar Jackson. The U.S. Patent's Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board will conduct proceedings to determine if Earnhardt can trademark the No. 8. If the appeal board denies Earnhardt the trademark and then he uses it for merchandise purposes (Jackson's mark is for backpacks, apparel, etc.), then Jackson could sue Earnhardt for trademark infringement. The trademark review for a challenge takes more than a year. Jackson's filing with the trademark office says the JR Motorsports number is much like his uniform number, which can create confusion. "[Jackson] has expended considerable time, effort, and expense in promoting, advertising, and popularizing the number 8 in connection with his personality and fame ... with the result that the relevant purchasing public has come to know, rely upon, and recognize [his] trademarks as very strong indicators of the source of [his] products provided in connection with his marks," the filing states. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. recommended Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
New York Times
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Lamar Jackson challenges Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s trademark claim of No. 8
Lamar Jackson's drive to win the battle of the famous No. 8s is racing on. Last year, Jackson challenged a trademark claim from Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman to put 'EIGHT' on apparel and bags. Now, Jackson has turned to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pending trademark claim of a stylized No. 8 Earnhardt has used for his JR Motorsports race team. Advertisement Jackson's attorneys filed a notice of opposition Wednesday with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, saying Earnhardt Jr.'s claim would conflict with the two-time NFL MVP's 'Era 8' brand — which covers a variety of bags as well as 'bottoms as clothing, footwear, headwear, tops as clothing (and) undergarments.' '(Earnhardt Jr.'s) mark falsely suggests a connection with persons, living or dead, namely, Lamar Jackson, who is well known by the number 8,' the filing said. Requests for comment from Earnhardt Jr. and Jackson's attorneys, as well as a spokesperson for Earnhardt Jr., were not immediately returned. Earnhardt Jr. has been associated with the No. 8 since the late 1990s, when he broke into the Cup Series while racing for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) — the race team owned by his seven-time NASCAR champion father, Dale Earnhardt Sr. After Earnhardt Sr.'s death in the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt Jr. struggled to find common ground with his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, who took control of the race team. Earnhardt Jr. left DEI to join Hendrick Motorsports after the 2007 season, where he switched to the No. 88. Teresa Earnhardt held onto the No. 8's trademark rights even after DEI eventually withered and shuttered, but last year she surprisingly let the rights expire without renewing them. That prompted Earnhardt Jr. to make a claim for his old familiar No. 8, which he continues to race in short track late model races. That particular No. 8, with a font so associated with Earnhardt Jr., is not being challenged by Jackson. A second No. 8, also slanted but in a different font, is the one Jackson's filing said would lead purchasers to 'mistakenly believe the products (Earnhardt Jr.) offers under the mark 8 are related to the products and services provided by (Jackson).' If that No. 8 is registered, Jackson argued, Earnhardt Jr. would receive a 'nationwide exclusive right to use a mark that is likely to cause confusion' and 'create a false suggestion of a connection' with Jackson. The dispute was first reported by trademark attorney Josh Gerben on his blog. (Photo of Lamar Jackson: Al Bello / Getty Images)
