Eagles file for a trademark on the ‘Tush Push’

The Eagles’ famous quarterback sneak has been utilized all over the football field for the last two seasons. On Thursday, the Birds filed a trademark on “Tush Push,” so there might be licensed merchandise coming your way.

The Eagles filed a trademark on “Tush Push” to sell men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing.

The filing comes two months after the team filed to trademark “Brotherly Shove,” the play’s other nickname, for the same purpose. That trademark is still under review and is targeted to be examined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office within the next calendar year based on posted wait times.

The Eagles’ latest filing has not yet been accepted by the USPTO.

It comes weeks after Deanna Slamans of Hummelstown filed a trademark request of her own on the same phrase. That request is also still pending review. Two other parties also filed trademark claims on “Brotherly Shove.” Both competing claims on “Brotherly Shove” were filed after the Eagles’ claim while the “Tush Push” claim was filed before on Nov. 24.

Slamans is a local Etsy seller who makes Eagles and other sports-inspired T-shirts in her store.

In the past, Slamans had designed shirts with slogans or phrases she felt were mainstream, like “Good vibes” and “Juneteenth,” only to learn from Etsy that they were trademarked. She also designed a “Brotherly Shove” T-shirt that she later took down due to the Eagles’ trademark application in October.

Etsy sellers are restricted from selling work with phrases that have been trademarked unless they own the trademark, which motivated Slamans to apply.

“Part of me owning the trademark is the freedom to use it, not necessarily going after everybody who does it,” Slamans said. “...There are tons and tons of Brotherly Shove T-shirts on Etsy. I’m leaving money on the table not having one, but I also want to honor being an artist and a designer. I want to honor [the Eagles’] desire to have that [trademark], and so I’m not going to go and design a T-shirt with that on it because I want to make sure that I’m also playing fair.”

Slamans said Friday that the Eagles had not reached out to her about her application.

According to trademark lawyer Josh Gerben, trademark applications are assessed in the order they are received. Since Slamans filed her application before the Eagles filed their application, her request will be reviewed first. If she is granted the trademark, the Eagles will then have a 30-day window to contest the trademark and make their case for why they should own the trademark.

A trademark does not technically restrict third parties from selling merchandise with the trademarked phrase, but it does provide legal recourse for the trademark owner. Once granted, the owner of the trademark can choose whether to restrict other parties from using the phrase, according to Gerben.

The team does not currently own the trademark, but could begin to reach out to third party sellers to exercise “common law” rights, which are harder to enforce and mostly rely on the goodwill of the seller.

But that process is still months away. Gerben said it can take 8-12 months for trademark applications to be processed and approved, and up to two years if the Eagles choose to contest the trademark after it’s awarded. It’s possible the Tush Push could be banned by the time the trademark is awarded.

» READ MORE: It’s starting to sound like the Tush Push won’t be banned after all. Here’s what they’re saying.

The Eagles are hoping that the play won’t be banned. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday at the league meetings that the league would look into the play in the offseason to assess potential safety concerns, but that they did not want to ban the play solely because the Eagles are better at it than other teams.

“A lot of it’s ‘I like’ or ‘don’t like,’ I think we want to look at, is there enough data to talk about the safety of it?” Goodell told reporters. “Are there other aspects that we need to think about? A lot of coaches talked last year about innovation that would come off of that play. I’d like to take a look back at that. Has that really occurred? Listen, I think in anything it’s important to hear the different perspectives. Let the committee do their work. I’ll be able to participate in that, and I’m sure we’ll have a position by March.”

The Eagles will visit the Seattle Seahawks in a Monday Night Football showdown. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lumen Field in Seattle.