Patriots' Perfection: Patent Pending

If at first you aren’t perfect, try, try again. That’s the mantra of the New England Patriots—and their intellectual-property lawyers. In January, while closing in on the NFL’s first undefeated season in 35 years, the team sought a merchandise trademark for “19-0 The Perfect Season.” In the end its Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants put it at 18-1. But there’s always next season. Thesmokinggun.com reports the Pats recently updated their application. When it comes to cashing in, though, perfection may not suffice. A former Denver Broncos official, William Harpole, has a competing—and earlier—application for “19-0.” Says Harpole: “I thought it might be a valuable piece of intellectual property.” –Mark Hyman