Dale Earnhardt Jr. once co-wrote a book titled “Driver #8,” but another famous No. 8 — Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson — challenged 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 challenge was filed on Wednesday.
But on Friday, Earnhardt announced that JRM would abandon its current No. 8 logo and will instead use the one he made famous and just recently got the ability to trademark after the original trademark held by DEI was not renewed.
If Earnhardt had pursued the No. 8 that Jackson is challenging, the U.S. Patent’s Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board would have conducted proceedings to determine if Earnhardt could trademark that No. 8. If the appeal board denied Earnhardt the trademark and then he used it for merchandise purposes (Jackson’s mark is for backpacks, apparel, etc.), then Jackson could have sued 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 (which will now be abandoned) is much like his uniform number, which could have created 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.
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