Tom Brady is refused trademark for ‘Tom Terrific’

Tom Brady has been refused a trademark to a nickname he didn’t like in the first place.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied the New England Patriots quarterback’s application to trademark “Tom Terrific” on Thursday because of the phrase’s close association with New York Mets legend Tom Seaver.

“The applied-for mark is the nickname of Tom Seaver,” the ruling stated. “Consent to register the nickname by Tom Seaver is not of record, nor is there any evidence in the record of a connection between applicant and Tom Seaver. Given the fame of the mark and use of the mark in connection with the applied-for goods, consumers will falsely associate applicant’s mark with Tom Seaver. Therefore, registration is refused under Section 2(a) of the Trademark Act.”

In May, Brady’s TEB Capital filed for a federal trademark registration for use of “Tom Terrific” on such items as trading cards, posters, printed photographs and shirts.

Once word got around that the six-time Super Bowl champ had his eye on Seaver’s well-known — but not trademarked — nickname, Mets fans were not pleased.

Brady later explained he only wanted to trademark “Tom Terrific” so he could prevent people from calling him that.

“I was actually trying to do something because I didn’t like the nickname and I wanted to make sure no one used it because some people wanted to use it,” Brady said.

“It wasn’t something I was trying to do out of any disrespect or ill-manner or anything like that.”