"Linsanity" is Jeremy Lin's to profit from.
Just two games into a month of a remarkable ascent to everyday-talked-about status, a California businessman named Yenchin Chang sought to trademark the term ‘Linsanity,” which was coined to capture the crazy ballyhoo around the New York Knicks guards sudden emergence in February.
Chang had the right idea. For a while there, Lin was all the rage — until his play leveled off as teams began to scheme against him, and then a knee injury felled him for the season.
“I just wanted to be a part of the excitement,” Chang proclaimed as his reason for the filing.
Well, he can still be part of the excitement — if there is more to come — but he will not benefit from “Linsanity,” as the U.S. Patent and Tradmark Office registered the term for Lin, according to Newsday. So, if there is money to be made off of the hoopla surrounding his play and usage of “Linsanity,” Lin will receive it.
Lin, who went from undrafted Harvard graduate to starting for one of the NBA’s storied franchises, filed to trademark the term on Feb. 13, which was six days after Chung filed. Chung was somewhat of a visionary: Lin had only played two games at that point.
But the patent office did not allow Chang to benefit off a phrase he did not create about a player he had no connection.
Whether Lin remains with the Knicks is a serious question. He and other players await an arbitrator’s decision on whether New York can exceed the salary cap to re-sign him. If not, it stands to reason he could go elsewhere, with the Toronto Raptors as a distinct possibility.
