Professional American football team, the New York Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the club’s National Football Conference (NFC) East Division.
Often referred to as just “the Giants”, the franchise has been part of the NFL since 1925, joining alongside four other teams, and is the only one of that group still existing.
The original owner, Tim Mara named the team after the city’s Major League Baseball team as his team would also be playing at the Polo Grounds. The “Giants” name was picked by the baseball team in reference to New York City’s giant buildings. The MLB team’s owner had also organized and promoted a professional football team called the New York Giants in 1919 but they folded before playing its first game. Mara then decided to “borrow” this name for his team. To differentiate themselves from the baseball team, the Giants football team incorporated itself as the “New York National League Football Company, Inc” in 1929 before changing to the “New York Football Giants” in 1937. Though the baseball team moved to San Francisco in 1957, the football team continues to use its corporate name.
Based in the New York metropolitan area, the team plays its home games at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey (5 miles west of New York City). They share the stadium with the New York Jets but are headquartered and practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center which is also in the Meadowlands.
The New York Giants are a successful football team, they’ve won four NFL championship titles (pre-Super Bowl era), won four Super Bowls, had 19 championship appearances (more than any other team), and had 29 Hall of Fame players. The Giants rank third among all NFL franchises.
The team is part of one of the oldest NFC East rivalries with the Philadelphia Eagles, dating way back to 1933, and is known to be one of the best rivalries in the NFL.
Famous New York Giants trademarks
The New York Giants are one of the oldest NFL teams, as well as an incredibly successful football team. They also have iconic branding around their franchise, and therefore protecting their assets and IP by trademarking them with USPTO could save them a huge amount of money, time, and headaches. The Giants have 32 registered trademarks, let’s take a look at some of their most famous ones, registered by New York Football Giants, Inc.
New York Giants
The first thing the Giants trademarked was their team name, which is unsurprising considering there was also a baseball team of the same name. The franchise registered the trademark in 1981 and has updated the trademark over the years so now the wordmark covers:
- Entertainment services in the form of professional football games and exhibitions
- Men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing and footwear; namely, coaches’ caps, wool hats, painters caps, baseball caps, visors, headbands, ear muffs, knit face masks, belts, wristbands, T-shirts, tank tops, pajamas, golf shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, jackets, neckties, braces, bibs, jerseys, nightshirts, coats, robes, raincoats, parkas, ponchos, sneakers, gloves, scarves, snowsuits, mittens, aprons, down jackets, leather jackets, shorts, sweatpants, jeans, pants, knickers, socks, underwear, bathing suits, and leg warmers
- Trading cards, posters, magazines relating to football, postcards, calendars, wrapping paper, paper gift boxes, paper stickers, paper napkins, paper towels, books relating to football, poster books, notepads, and greeting cards
- Football helmets, cell phone covers, decorative magnets, pre-recorded DVDs featuring the sport of football, computer game software and discs, mouse pads, and video game cartridges
- Jewelry, watches, clocks, ornamental pins, earrings, bracelets, charms, collectible and commemorative coins made of precious metal, pendants made of precious metal
Team Uniform
The New York Giants were also quick to trademark the design of their uniform. The trademark for the illustration is described as, “a two-dimensional representation of the mark, which consists of the design elements and color combinations appearing on a three-dimensional football uniform worn by players in applicant’s games and exhibitions”.
The New York Giants uniforms haven’t changed too much over time – always consisting of blue, white, and red colors. Though the team has typically moved away from block red shirt colors worn from the 20s to early 50s and typically plays in blue, or white with red accents. The trademark was registered in 1982 and applies to:
- Entertainment services in the form of professional football games and exhibitions
“NY” logo
The Giants’ logo has had three big changes over time since 1945. The first three logos used were a version of a quarterback giant about to throw a football with the New York skyline (and later Yankee Stadium) just small beneath them to emphasize their size. This logo variation lasted until 1960 when they changed to the blue monogram that the team now currently uses.
The monogram “NY” (which stands for “New York”) features the two letters in lowercase with the “Y’ stretching out in a straight line below the “N”. The original version was in navy blue which continues, but the latest version (used since 2000) also had a red outline around it. This logo has become iconic worldwide.
None of the logos featuring Giants were trademarked (until more recently – more on this later), however, the “NY” logo was first trademarked in 2003 and covers:
- Education and entertainment services in the nature of professional football games and exhibitions; providing sports and entertainment information via a global computer network or a commercial online service; organization of sports events; fan club services; educational services, namely, physical education programs; entertainment services, namely, musical and dance performances provided during intervals at sports events; production of radio and television programs, live shows featuring football games, exhibitions, competitions, and musical, comedy and dance performances
- Toys and sporting goods, namely, plush toys, stuffed animals, play figures, golf balls, golf bags, golf clubs, golf club covers, bowling balls, bowling bags, footballs, and dart boards; board games relating to football, Christmas tree ornaments, balloons, jigsaw puzzles, windsocks for toy and decorative purposes, kites, toy vehicles
- Men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, namely, fleece tops and bottoms, caps, headwear, T-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, tank tops, jeans, sweaters, pants, jackets, turtlenecks, jumpsuits, golf shirts, woven shirts, knit shirts, jerseys, wristbands, warm-up suits, swimwear, wind resistant jackets, raincoats, parkas, ponchos, gloves, ties, suspenders, cloth bibs, sleepwear, namely, robes, nightshirts and pajamas, mittens, knit hats, and caps, scarves, aprons, headbands, ear muffs, underwear; footwear
- Posters, calendars, trading cards, series of books relating to football, magazines relating to football, newsletters relating to football, stickers, bumper stickers, note pads, paper pennants, greeting cards, printed tickets to sports games and events, non-magnetically coded prepaid phone cards, pens, and pencils, pencil cases, rub on decorative transfers, note paper, pictorial prints, picture postcards, art pictures, stationery, envelopes, stationery-type portfolios, photo albums, scrapbook albums, ring binders, checkbook covers, tissue paper, wrapping paper, paper table cloths, paper napkins, paper party hats, paper party invitations, paper gift cards, paper gift bags, paper gift boxes, paper decorations, collectible cards, collectible card, and memorabilia holders, souvenir programs for sports events
- Football helmets, telephones, cell phone covers, cell phone straps, magnetically encoded prepaid telephone calling cards, magnetic coded charge cards, decorative magnets, compact discs, tapes, pre-recorded videotapes and DVDs featuring the sport of football, computer game software and disks, and video game cartridges, camera cases, sunglasses, eyeglass cases, eyeglass chains, binoculars
- Jewelry, watches, clocks, ornamental pins, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, charms, collectible and commemorative coins made of precious metal, and pendants made of precious metal
Read more: Trademarking your logo
G-Men
This affectionate nickname for the New York Giants team stems from Giants (“G”) and the team obviously being men. It’s a colloquial way for fans to talk about the Giants, which the franchise also uses as part of its promotional and marketing materials. The New York Football Giants, Inc registered the “G-Men” trademark in 2014 and it applies to:
- Entertainment services, namely, football games and exhibitions; providing sports and entertainment information accessible by means of radio, television, cable, satellite, audio, video, web-based applications, mobile phone applications, and computer networks; providing a website for entertainment purposes featuring photographic, audio, and video, presentations about football; providing non-downloadable live and pre-taped shows and videos featuring football games, football exhibitions, football competitions, and football related stories or events; organizing sporting and cultural events featuring football; arranging and conducting athletic competitions, namely, professional football games and exhibitions; fan club services
- Shirts; T-shirts; tops
Big Blue Travel
The New York Giants has created a travel company that is the official fan travel service provider for the Giants. For over 30 years they have organized sports travel packages for New York Giants away games as well as road trips. The “Big Blue Travel” wordmark was trademarked in 2015 and applies to:
- Travel agency services, namely, making reservations and booking transportation for sports fans and corporate groups
- Travel agency services, namely, making reservations and bookings for temporary lodging, restaurants, and meals for sports fans and corporate groups
New York Football Giants logo
As mentioned, the New York Giants have had several logos over their time. The “NY” monogram is the first one trademarked and is still used to this day. However, in 2022, the Giants filed for a trademark for their second logo – used from 1950 to 1955. This logo featured a red circle with “New York Football Giants” written in white curving around the inner upper section of the circle. A quarterback in white with “Giants” written on his shirt is standing over the New York skyline and about to throw a football. It’s likely that the Giants trademarked this old logo as part of a popular trend of releasing merchandise with retro imagery. The trademark is still pending, but if granted will apply to:
- Clothing; headgear; fleece tops and bottoms; caps; hats; shirts; sweatshirts; shorts; sweaters; jackets
NY TOGETHER BLUE NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS
One of the Giants’ most recent trademarks is for an illustration: “
- T-shirts
- (Pending) Protective covers and cases for cell phones
- (Pending) Jewelry, watches, clocks, jewelry pins, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, jewelry charms, rings, collectible coins, tie pins and clips, commemorative coins made of precious metal, pendants and key chains made of precious metal
- (Pending) Posters, calendars, printed sports trading cards, magazines relating to football, newsletters relating to football, notepads, stickers, bumper stickers, pens and pencils, paper flags and pennants, and greeting cards; printed paper tickets to sports games and events; pencil cases; rub on decorative transfers in the nature of iron-on transfers; note paper, pictorial prints, art prints, tissue paper, wrapping paper, paper table cloths, paper napkins, printed paper party invitations, paper party decorations, paper gift bags, paper gift boxes, printed collectible trading cards; holders for printed collectible trading cards; memorabilia holders in the nature of printed collectible trading cards; holders for printed sports trading cards; photo stands; souvenir programs for sports events; money clips of precious metals
- (Pending) Drinking glasses, namely, tumblers, glass mugs, and coffee mugs
- (Pending) Flags of textile or plastic, cloth towels, quilts, and cloth banners
- (Pending) Marketing services, namely, promoting the goods and services of others by arranging for sponsors to affiliate their goods and services with various football personalities; Marketing services, namely, promoting the goods and services of others by arranging for sponsors to affiliate their goods and services with the sport of football; dissemination of advertising for others via an on-line electronic communications network
- (Pending) Entertainment services in the nature of professional football games; organizing sports exhibitions; providing information in the fields of sports events via a global computer network or a commercial online service; entertainment services in the nature of organizing sports events and sports exhibitions and providing sports news and sports information via a global computer network or a commercial on-line service
Wrapping up
As one of the oldest and most successful football teams in the NFL, it makes sense that the New York Giants would be sure to trademark their assets and IP in order to protect themselves in future legal disputes, against competitors, and also to create merchandise and advertising campaigns to their huge fan base.
The Giants have done well to cover most of their assets such as their team name, logos, uniform, slogans, and branches of the business (such as the travel company), with 32 trademarks registered. However, there is a little bit more the franchise could be doing. For example, the Giants have several popular nicknames with fans, including “Jints”, and “Big Blue Wrecking Crew”, none of which is trademarked. Though they do have several trademarks pending, including the “Big Blue” nickname showing they understand the importance of it. As a franchise that’s worth $6 billion, they have a lot to gain from protecting their assets with USPTO.
