Sitting on our hands. Trademarking Rocktober, Dude

Since we at Rockies Nation have nothing to do for the 8 day layoff before the World Series (and Matt Holliday did NOT invite me up to his Montana hunting cabin), we are stuck with observing the boiling pot that is Denver fandom, and of course watching the American League Championship Series (Go Sox!).

The Rockies filed applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on October 4 asking for exclusive trademark rights to the "Rocktober" name so they can brand it on stuffed animals, Christmas stockings, baby booties, T-shirts, bobble-head dolls and the like.

We here at Rockies Nation respectfully disagree with this move for a few reasons. One: it’ll never happen. I’m no trademark lawyer, but in my view the odds of the Rockies being able to exclusively trademark the word “Rocktober” are about as good as Jessica Simpson trademarking the work “Ummm”. But stranger things have happened. Two: As a bit of a rock ‘n roll fan, I’ve been using the word Rocktober in my fall vernacular for over 20 years now. I remember saying to my brother a couple decades ago: “Hey dude: I’ve got tickets to Metallica with Guns ‘n Roses next month at Mile High Stadium!” He said: “Dude: really? When is it?” And I said: “Rocktober 2nd, dude! Ha Ha! Yes!!” And that was even before the Colorado Rockies were even formed. I wouldn’t want future generations in Denver to go through the confusion of trying to figure out exactly what they mean by Rocktober. If one brother says to another in 2011: “Hey cracker: I have tickets to see the Big Stick Swingers on Rocktober 2nd!”

If the Rockies controlled the word Rocktober, the other brother might show up at Coors Field, instead of the Pepsi Center and much consternation would follow.