According to newsok 6 names have been filed with trademark and patent office. thoughts?

NewsOKC got the spelling of one of the names wrong. The team would be Marshals with one 'l' . Marshall is like a last name (like the department store). Do you think the NBA and PBC are serious about "Wind"? All the jokes every fast break?

Marshals, Thunder or Bison

ENERGY - our city is who it is (past, present, future) because of energy industry and this city's renaissance is a new energy! We have a synergy going right now in our culture. Energy's a natural fit, has history, and is not hickish or lame.

NewsOKC got the spelling of one of the names wrong. The team would be Marshals with one 'l' . Marshall is like a last name (like the department store). Do you think the NBA and PBC are serious about "Wind"? All the jokes every fast break?

Rumor before had it Marshall, with two "L"s.

We're going to do this how many times...

We're going to do this how many times...


As many times as it takes. Takes to do what we don't know yet, but we don't let the unknown stop us.

Oklahoma City Energy: Plug in, turn on, and feel the power.

I like Bison, Thunder and Marshals. The rest I can do without, except for Wind, which is awful.

We're going to do this how many times...

This is probably it, as these are names that have actually been filed. To date, it's all been total guesses as to what names are being considered.

i keep hearing the name will end with an "S", so that leaves the marshals or the barons; or bisons i guess.

i keep hearing the name will end with an "S", so that leaves the marshals or the barons; or bisons i guess.

Ending in 's' leaves just the Marshals or Barons. It would be 'Bison'.....I know there is a minor league team from Buffalo using 'Bisons' but it's wrong and sounds silly. The plural for Bison is - Bison! You don't have bisons running wild, you have bison running wild. That's why it's listed as such in the list.

ok ok ok ok....sorry

OBU is the Bison.

OH NO! This is embarrassing with a capital "E"!

Oklahoma City Marshalls (the two L spelling) is how the name is trademarked!!! It wasn't just an Oklahoman misspelling. I just went to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office website and it's there all right. 5 trademarks for "Marshalls" covering everything from team name to plush toys. Registered by - (APPLICANT) NBA Development League, LLC. LTD LIAB CO DELAWARE 100 Plaza Drive Secaucus NEW JERSEY 07094

Here's one of the listings.....

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=agv38q.3.5 (http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=agv38q.3.5)

the NBA did it, not us dumb Okies.

OH NO! This is embarrassing with a capital "E"!

Oklahoma City Marshalls (the two L spelling) is how the name is trademarked!!! It wasn't just an Oklahoman misspelling. I just went to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office website and it's there all right. 5 trademarks for "Marshalls" covering everything from team name to plush toys. Registered by - (APPLICANT) NBA Development League, LLC. LTD LIAB CO DELAWARE 100 Plaza Drive Secaucus NEW JERSEY 07094

Here's one of the listings.....

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=agv38q.3.5 (http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=agv38q.3.5)

It never ceases to amaze me how much stupidy mankind is capable of lol!

I had actually been told, about two weeks ago, by a source as good as Mark Rogers', if he didn't talk to an owner directly, that the names the team was considering were Thunder, Barons, Energy, Wind and Forty-sixers. Forty-sixers wouldn't work, because the nickname would be the same as the Seventy-sixers, so I bet it got dropped. I suspect this person either forgot them, or Bison and Marshals were added late. At that time, they still hadn't made a decision. I've heard they still haven't made a decision, but it's been narrowed down to two (from a slightly less reliable source). I wonder if the public response to Thunder made them widen their choices, or if they are just smokescreens. I guess we will know eventually.

According to Miriam Webster, both Marshal and Marshall are acceptable spellings.

forty sixers? i'm not the sharpest tool in the shed... so would someone explain the relevance of that date?

Isn't that the year Oklahoma became a state? Or were we the 46th state?

from Wikipedia.

Marshal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshal)



"Marshal (also sometimes spelled marshall in American English, but not in British English) is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word derives from Old High German marah "horse" and schalh "servant",[1] and originally meant "stable keeper"[citations needed]. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for the most elevated offices."

So can everyone get off the spelling of Marshals/Marshalls. It is a great name once the 'new' wears off.

99% of the time it is spelled with one L.

Google it. That's always a good test of popularity of how a word is used.

Isn't that the year Oklahoma became a state? Or were we the 46th state?

FYI - Oklahoma is the 46th state.

Last year was Oklahoma's centennial year -- 100 years. 1907-2007.

I still can't believe Wind is a final contender.

Marshals and Bison are the best two IMHO.

99% of the time it is spelled with one L.

Google it. That's always a good test of popularity of how a word is used.

True, but that does not make it wrong when spelled with two L's.

NBA OKC Makes Headline on Yahoo!

OKLAHOMA CITY (TICKER) —The NBA filed for trademarks on six nicknames for Oklahoma City’s new franchise, The Oklahoman reported on Friday.

Citing the United States Trademark and Patent Office, the newspaper said that the league filed for a trademark on Barons, Bison, Energy, Marshalls, Thunder and Wind.

It has been rumored in the last few weeks that the team formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics is leaning toward Thunder, but the NBA would not reveal that information.

“The NBA will not have a comment on this until a nickname is selected,” NBA senior director of basketball communications Tim Frank told the newspaper.

Citing a source close to team ownership, Oklahoma City’s ABC affiliate previously reported that the “registrar for all of the NBA’s Internet domain names were reserved okcthunderbasketball.com and okcthunderbasketball.net on July 10,” suggesting that the franchise will soon be renamed.

The franchise left the Pacific Northwest after an ugly court case ended with an agreement between the team and the city of Seattle, which released the club from its lease at KeyArena - the crux of the disagreement.

In the court case, the city of Seattle had been seeking to hold the owners of the Sonics to the remaining two years of the team’s KeyArena lease and Sonics’ season-ticket holders also filed a class-action lawsuit that contended they were tricked into buying tickets under the belief that the team would be staying in the Pacific Northwest.

Sonics majority owner Clay Bennett and his ownership group alleged the team was losing money at KeyArena, thereby necessitating a move to Oklahoma City.

However, the Sonics and the city of Seattle came to an agreement on July 2, just hours before a district court judge was to issue a verdict on the six-day trial.

As per the agreement, the Oklahoma City franchise agreed to leave the Sonics’ name, logo and colors behind for a potential future NBA franchise in Seattle.

NBA trademarks six nicknames for Oklahoma City franchise - NBA - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=txoklahomacitynickname&prov=st&type=lgns)

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... I'm very pissed now.

Last week..... thunderokc.net was available... I should've put in cash in the card to register it!!! Looks like someone stole it. Grrrrrrrrrrrr!

Wind? lol..

I am a leaf on the wind! Watch me get owned, lol.

Since the OKC Knights were not on the list to choose from I vote Barons... why would anyone vote for Thunder? its like bark instead of dogs or fart instead of warrior... and give us the worst name in the league ( minus the wizards) ... get a name that sounds great from the start instead of 'getting use to it' like OKC bison or heaven forbid the thunder or wind...

I still think out of all of the posts I have read on numerous sites about OKC's team this was the funniest----- OKC bridges because there is nothing more terrifying than an Oklahoma bridge

Here's an article on ESPN.com re: the recent trademark registrations:

ESPN - Oklahoma City Thunder/Marshalls/Energy/Wind/Barons/Bison - TrueHoop By Henry Abbott (http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-33-95/Oklahoma-City-Thunder-Marshalls-Energy-Wind-Barons-Bison.html)

Oklahoma City Thunder/Marshalls/Energy/Wind/Barons/Bison

July 25, 2008 4:09 PM


There have been reports here or there that the team that used be knows as the SuperSonics would be called this or that. They are mostly based on anonymous sources, or some evidence that somebody or other registered this or that web address.

I'm holding out for some better, more solid information before I rename that category over there on the right.

An alert TrueHoop reader (thanks Todd) has some insight of a kind. He points out that an NBA attorney recently made a number of filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

You can search the database yourself. If you know how to search (it's a little complicated, but hang in there) you can see active trademark requests, filed July 21, for the following names:

Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City Marshalls
Oklahoma City Energy
Oklahoma City Wind
Oklahoma City Barons
Oklahoma City Bison

There is also an inactive request, filed by the same attorney, for the name "Oklahoma City SuperSonics."

Most unusual is that, unlike trademark applications for other NBA teams, these have been applied for by the NBA Development League. (And this whole time I thought all that fuss was about an NBA team! No, just kidding. Insert joke here about the quality of the Sonic roster.) I am not sure if that means anything or not.

So, Thunder, Marshalls, Energy, Wind, Barons, Bison ... I'm going to put on my PR hat and declare that if these are the options, this team is certain to be called the Thunder, the Marshalls, or some name that has not yet come to light.

Energy, Wind, Barons, and Bison all have fatal flaws, in my mind:


Energy: Energy has a nice tie-in with co-owner Aubrey McClendon's business, and the big employers in the region. But it is not a cool word in this context. Using "energy" as a "rah rah" word for athletes strikes me as kind if eighties (like, in fact, "rah rah" itself). This video, in my mind, would set the mood in the locker room of a team called the "Energy."


Wind: Wind? Really? Wind? Synonym of breeze? Maybe they're registering this for the dance team? Or as a desperate ploy related to promote an owner's alternative energy business? Because a team called the wind can never lose a game. Every headline will be "Lakers Break Wind," "Celtics Break Wind," "Pistons Break Wind," etc. That's not good for the NBA. This one is almost more palatable if we interpret it as the verb, with the long "i" sound, as in "wind up toy."


Barons: Clay Bennett and his cronies have behaved in a manner that many have likened to Robber Barons. I dare them to name the team the Barons.


Bison: The tradition of the bison could not be mightier. Nevertheless, it is a reality that in 2008 rich white men can not be seen to be sending a predominantly black group of employees into the workplace with the word "bison" across their chest. No way that happens.

And this from KOCO.com:

New Possible Domains Registered For OKC NBA Team - Sports News Story - KOCO Oklahoma City (http://www.koco.com/sports/16992360/detail.html)

"A source close to the ownership group told KOCO sports director Mark Rodgers last week that the team name will be the Oklahoma City Thunder. That information has not changed, Rodgers said on Friday."

Isn't this fun???

:sofa:

I was going to point out that the D-League registered those names, but ESPN beat me to it. Red herring? I think so.

Yeah, I haven't heard a satisfactory answer as to why the NBA DL would register the names.

Maybe they were hoping there would be less scrutiny if the D League registered them, figuring all transactions involving the NBA would be watched like a hawk.

Since the article from KOCO has been posted, I'll just post the survey results that people voted on KOCO's web site.

Click Here for Survey Results (http://cf.koco.com/okl/sh/con_surveycontest_display/displaySurveyResults.cfm?contentid=16988131&sitekey=OKL&questionum=1&answer1=5)

Thunder is a clear winner!

.....

Ready for a laugh?

We all were mostly shocked at the spelling of Marshalls and it just seem wrong. Well, take a look at what KFOR is reporting. LOL

OKLAHOMA CITY - The NBA has filed for trademark rights to six nicknames for the league's new Oklahoma City franchise: Barons, Bison, Energy, Marshals, Thunder and Wind.

An attorney for the league made the filing Monday with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The filing is listed on the patent office's Web site.

The NBA and the team have refused to discuss possible new names for the team formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics ahead of an official announcement, which has not yet been scheduled.

NBA files for rights to six nicknames (http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=8736876&nav=menu99_4)

Altho KFOR spelled it right, it is still wrong according to the official NBA trademarked the name as Marshalls.

And the survey results from KFOR...

Click Here for Survey Results (http://www.kfor.com/Global/category.asp?C=5530&nav=menu99_4#poll73233)

Thunder is a clear winner!

KOCO is quite biased.

They MUST publish a 'poll' that backs up their story when they said it would be Thunder. Of course they need to make it look like the people 'agree.'

But this and other polls conducted conclude otherwise.

Thunder is minor league, competes with teams already in OKC's catchment area, doesn't end in s, and is quite hard to market nationwide. While it does have OKC appeal - Barons is clearly the best of the choiced for all the aformentioned, the logo, AND it is a short name (easily fit on merchandise and jerseys).

Stallions would make a great name too, but given the choices - Barons is the BEST!

KOCO is quite biased.

They MUST publish a 'poll' that backs up their story when they said it would be Thunder. Of course they need to make it look like the people 'agree.'

And yet similar polls on news9.com and kfor.com also indictate that fans favor Thunder (51% on each I do believe), and they weren't even the stations that broke the original registration story.

The DOK, as you know, had it's own "contest" and Thunder won that as well.

Granted, none of these polls are scientific, but I think saying that KOCO had to publish a poll to back up their story doesn't hold water in this case.

Barons is, and will continue to be, an extremely poor choice for our team. The many negative connotations it brings just do not sit well with me.

HOT ROD, the polls on this site can not determine the real thing. Not everyone in the state is aware of this forum and/or is a member here. I only found this forum thru a google search on the new license plate.

You can not say that KOCO is biased, because they have no control over the decision of the people that is voting.

HOT ROD, the polls on this site can not determine the real thing. Not everyone in the state is aware of this forum and/or is a member here. I only found this forum thru a google search on the new license plate.

You can not say that KOCO is biased, because they have no control over the decision of the people that is voting.


Actually, I disagree Thunder. These online polls are not scientific and can be biased by those sites that post them. I just don't think it necessarily is that way in this situation.

My point was that the same results have been occurring on other station's web site (and the DOK), so in my opionion it's difficult to pin the "biased" label on KOCO.

HOTROD, also the name "Barons" is "best" is only a matter of opinon just like each of us have our own personal preference. From a PR perspective, more than likely the NBA will not allow this to happen, primarily for the same reasons the ESPN writer pointed out, the way this team was aquired. It will not calm the waters in the PacNW nor their journalists any time soon. It can also too easily be connotated with thuggery and outlawish behavior, something else the NBA doesn't like to associate with. I'm surprised the NBA let them patent Barons, but don't think it's a realistic choice. Also Bennett et al are not 100% set on a name that HAS to end in "s", but just simply said they would prefer it. He said he would be open to all suggestions on record as well. Ask Aubrey McClendon or Tom Ward if they'd prefer Energy over Barons. I imagine they would. I personally think 89ers might be the white knight in all of this. The Gaylord family helped get rid of the name 89ers and named the baseball team Redhawks (and I believe they own the name 89ers now). It also ends in "s", so using that theory, 89ers would be a more logical choice and doesn't have connotations that the NBA won't associate with. That's my two cents. We all could be wrong for that matter and it be a name we didn't think had a shot.

I like Marshals the best. IMO it it by far the best name of the 6

I still say that if Bennett agrees to dress like this for the games that I will switch my vote to Barons:

http://www.allardice.org/barons/images/5barons1.jpg

HOTROD, also the name "Barons" is "best" is only a matter of opinon just like each of us have our own personal preference. From a PR perspective, more than likely the NBA will not allow this to happen, primarily for the same reasons the ESPN writer pointed out, the way this team was aquired. It will not calm the waters in the PacNW nor their journalists any time soon. It can also too easily be connotated with thuggery and outlawish behavior, something else the NBA doesn't like to associate with. I'm surprised the NBA let them patent Barons, but don't think it's a realistic choice. Also Bennett et al are not 100% set on a name that HAS to end in "s", but just simply said they would prefer it. He said he would be open to all suggestions on record as well. Ask Aubrey McClendon or Tom Ward if they'd prefer Energy over Barons. I imagine they would. I personally think 89ers might be the white knight in all of this. The Gaylord family helped get rid of the name 89ers and named the baseball team Redhawks (and I believe they own the name 89ers now). It also ends in "s", so using that theory, 89ers would be a more logical choice and doesn't have connotations that the NBA won't associate with. That's my two cents. We all could be wrong for that matter and it be a name we didn't think had a shot.


I think you're absolutely right--if it were Outlaws. This is probably why Barons made the final six and we don't see Outlaws on the list.

Found this on another board. Not sure if it's been posted here. Just thought I'd share.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b54/InsignionDesign2006/OklahomaCityThunderConcept1.png

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b54/InsignionDesign2006/OklahomaCityThunderConceptUniforms.png

And another:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b54/InsignionDesign2006/First-OKCBarons.png

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b54/InsignionDesign2006/OKCBaronsConcept2.png

I don't understand why people outside the NBA committee are worried about the connotation of "Barons" as it pertains to the way the team was acquired - in my opinion, taking that stance is extremely short sighted. I don't think anyone will care how the team was acquired 3, 5, or 20 years from now. So what if it gives the media a little ammo to play with this fall and next spring! The team will probably have changed hands again within 20 years and no one will remember that the name was originally controversial because some of the OKC Barons' owners were just that - Oil Barons.

Also, I don't understand why Baron would have a negative connotation. To me, its like saying that the name Sacremento Kings has a negative undertone because many kings were tyrants...

:O Thunder!

Great concepts. crouchingliger, where did you find these posted?

To me, its like saying that the name Sacramento Kings has a negative undertone because many kings were tyrants...

And how would that be inaccurate, exactly?

Poll, part II: What should Oklahoma City's nickname be? - Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Poll-part-II-What-should-Oklahoma-City-s-nickn;_ylt=AvfpxU.pHH1xsh_whVYwrvW8vLYF?urn=nba,96 375)

I thought these were good too, although Outlaws doesn't appear to be in contention. I really like the alternate logo, takeoff of the OK flag.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h296/THEc0nr4d/okc_total.gif

By the way, these and the previously posted logos are from the forums at Chris Creamer's Sports Logos Page - SportsLogos.Net (http://www.sportslogos.net)

I prefer the Thunder logos of those 3.

Me Too!!s Ugh