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Strategy September 24, 2018

‘FitzMagic’ At Heart of Trademark, Personal Branding Controversy

NFL Rookie Minkah Fitzpatrick has taken flak for filing a trademark application for “FitzMagic” from some who feel the nickname rightly belongs to veteran player Ryan Fitzpatrick.

By  Christopher Ruvo

We’re in an age where merchandising and personal branding have come to the forefront like never before. A trademark spat in the NFL sure highlights this.  

Representatives for Minkah Fitpatrick, a talented rookie player with the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins, this month filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “FitzMagic.” Fitzpatrick says he’s had “FitzMagic” as a nickname since before his high school days in New Jersey. He’d like to leverage the name into a brand of merchandise.

Minkah Fitzpatrick.

All that actually seems very smart and forward-looking from a business perspective. Still, Minkah Fitzpatrick caught high holy hell on social media after news of his trademark application began circulating. That’s because the nickname “FitzMagic” has also been used to refer to Ryan Fitzpatrick (no relation). Ryan is a longtime NFL veteran quarterback who has been playing out-of-his-mind-good for the Tamp Bay Buccaneers during the first few weeks of the season. Some feel the nickname should belong solely to him.

As that last tweet evidences, some of the pushback was quite nasty and personal. Some of the haters even targeted Minkah’s mother. "It kind of upset me a whole lot because it's my mom," Fitzpatrick told ESPN. "I don't really want her to be involved in anything that is directed toward me. Anybody is going to be protective over their mothers, but she's very protective of myself. She's seen some of the stuff that's come my way. I've dealt with it before when I played in a big stage in college. I've had my fair share of mistakes where I got that type of backlash. So I kind of knew how to handle it. She never been through anything like that. She was being a protective mother, doing what every mother would do and protecting her son."

Still, Minkah tried to take things in stride.

Following the backlash, Minkah said he would be willing to concede the nickname to Ryan Fitzpatrick, if the QB desired. "If he wants the name, he can take it if he wants," Minkah said. "He's a great football player. If he wants it, contact me and my people and he can have it if he wants it."

So far, there’s been no word from Ryan Fitzpatrick. It didn’t seem the “FitzMagic” controversy was much of a concern for him.

I suspect my opinion won’t represent the majority, but I’m on Minkah’s side. We live in a free-market society where all kinds of similar -- practically identical – products, services and branding compete. If Minkah was the first to take the initiative and seek to get “FitzMagic” trademarked to block out potential competitors, then good for him – applause for a savvy move. He deserves to benefit for being proactive where others were not. Should Minkah develop into a true NFL star, the trademark could lead to lucrative returns on whatever merch he eventually brings to market. I admire his chutzpah, and hope he pulls it off.