AOL Throws Cincinnati A Curve

The 2007 baseball season is opening with a surprising match up: the Cincinnati Reds versus AOL. The Major League Baseball club filed opposition to AOL's application for trademark of "RED," the name of AOL's social network for teens.

Launched in late 2003, comScore report, RED attracts about two million unique visitors.

Antonio Borreill, an attorney for New York law firm Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, who represents the
The timing of the application explains why the Cincinnati Reds didn't seem to have a problem with it before, and why the club didn't go after the much-publicized
While trademarking the color itself seems iffy and situation-dependent, as illustrated a RegisteringATradmark.com notes UPS has the market cornered on Brown.

There are other things to consider, like whether there is sufficient prior use, potential confusion between companies offering similar services, and genericization concerns.

Though colors sometimes are trademarked, it seems doubtful the Cincinnati ball club could make a case for confusion. However, they have been using the name "Reds" for upwards of a century now.     

Representatives of the Cincinnati Reds could not be reached for comment.