No kidding, it sounds like an internet hoax but on 3 May, 2011 The Walt Disney Company filed three separate trademark applications (see below) for the term “Seal Team 6†covering clothing, footwear, headwear, toys, games and entertainment and education services. There are a few other baubles thrown in such as “gymnastic and sporting articles (except clothing); hand-held units for playing electronic games other than those adapted for use with an external display screen or monitor; Christmas stockings; Christmas tree ornaments and decorations; snow globes”.
In 2004, Novalogic had applied for a trademark for the term for use with games and action figures but abandoned the effort in 2006. Who knows, maybe they were visited in the middle of the night by black helicopters.
I can’t for the life of me figure out how you trademark a historical term that is decades old. While I am completely dismayed at the intellectual simplicity of the financial and entertainment industries (money, money, money), I find it hard to believe that they didn’t conduct a simple search of eBay which offers literally pages and pages of geedunk slathered with the term “SEAL Team 6”.
Overall, this feels like a really crappy move from a company that supported America’s war effort during WW II producing logos and insignia for a wide variety of units. Although I have to admit, Disney might be on to something with the snow globes.
