You've probably seen those "Perfect Season" T-shirts celebrating the Indiana Hoosiers' unbeaten 16-0 campaign to claim the school's first college football national championship.
What you probably don't know is the unlikely source benefitting from sales of the shirts: the New England Patriots.
In 2008, two weeks before the undefeated Patriots were readying to play the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, the business entity of the team's ownership, The Kraft Group, filed for various trademarks related to the “Perfect Season.”
When New England lost to the Giants, it was expected the Patriots wouldn’t pursue the marks.
Not only did The Kraft Group continue, they licensed the mark to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for use in a DVD in order to satisfy the "use in commerce" stipulation by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and, in 2016, the team was granted rights to the trademarks.
Unlike Pat Riley, who filed to trademark “Three Peat” when he was the coach of the Lakers and then cashed in when the Chicago Bulls and New York Yankees won three straight titles, The Kraft Group’s trademark hasn't had many opportunities to gain royalties from the mark.
Even now, those chances will be limited. While Fanatics would need to pay the Pats royalties for the one "Perfect Season" shirt on its website, many apparel producers appear to be steering away from using the phase.
Items in Indiana’s team store use the word “Perfection.” Homefield Apparel, whose original school is Indiana, uses “Perfect” without "Season" on its shirts.
In order to continue to own the mark, should they wish, expect The Kraft Group to go after any sellers who aren’t paying them a licensing fee.
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Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.