Ryan Lochte hasn’t trademarked “Jeah”…yet

By now, many Olympics viewers have become enamored with Ryan Lochte. He’s the laid-back Florida swimmer who’s only laid-back in the pool when he’s doing the backstroke; as of Wednesday, he’s won a gold and a silver medal in London and has many Americans hoping he will win many more. (Michael Phelps? Who’s that?)

One element of Lochte’s charm is his surfer-dude patois, most notably his phrase “Jeah,” which he has said is meant to express a positive feeling or enthusiasm. It’s what you could call his trademark expression.

Now, usually when people say something like an expression is your trademark, they don’t mean it literally. But in Lochte’s case, obtaining a trademark for the phrase might not be such a bad idea.

Lochte has enormous commercial appeal (sponsorships with Procter & Gamble, Ralph Lauren and Gillette earned him $2.3 million last year) and scores of devoted fans. He’s even selling sunglasses that say “LOCHTE JEAH” on the lenses for $14.99 on his website. Thus, it seems evident that people like Locthe, like his phrase “Jeah” and are willing to pay to use it. So, it would actually be smart of him to obtain a trademark so that no one snaps up a business opportunity before he himself has a chance to do so.

Our office works with people who want to obtain a trademark, or else want to secure some other form of intellectual property protection, like a copyright or patent. If you are looking into this possibility, learning more about our business might not be a bad idea. Naturally, you should consult many sources, but the trademark page or our site might be helpful to you.

Source: Forbes, “Ryan Lochte Can’t Sell His ‘REEZY JEAH’ Glasses Until Mid-August: No Problem,” Lance Madden, July 31, 2012