Lamar Jackson settles legal dispute vs NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. for no 8 trademark
Lamar Jackson ultimately does not look like he will have to fight a legal battle with NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. after they clashed over the number 8. The driver made the number famous during his racing career and the Ravens quarterback wears the same number on his playing uniform.
The Baltimore Star filed a trademark lawsuit against the NASCAR legend saying that the stylization of the number 8 in the latter's JRM 8 logo was too close to his Era 8 collection. If it had gone to court, the U.S. Patent’s Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board would have needed to conduct proceedings to determine if Dale Earnhardt Jr. could proceed with trademarking his number 8.
Instead, he graciously conceded it to Lamar Jackson, putting out a statement,
"Through the USPTO, we have successfully secured the rights to the stylized 8 (the original version made popular in his racing career). Therefore, we will be moving away from the JRM 8 we have used since 2019. We are looking forward to the remainder of an already successful season."
Lamar Jackson's filing on '8' explains his rationale for going after NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt Jr.
While this fight for a number might seem petty to some, it was clear that Lamar Jackson took it very seriously. The Ravens quarterback explained his rationale in the filing.
His representatives said that he has spent time, effort, and expense to promote the number and popularize it in relation to Lamar Jackson. Therefore, any consumer might come to associate the number with the quarterback even though it might actually be coming from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports reported the contents as follows,
"[Lamar Jackson] has expended considerable time, effort, and expense in promoting, advertising, and popularizing the number 8 in connection with his personality and fame ... with the result that the relevant purchasing public has come to know, rely upon, and recognize [his] trademarks as very strong indicators of the source of [his] products provided in connection with his marks."
However, it looks like the whole issue has been settled amicably and both parties will be able to continue using the different stylized versions of '8' that they independently popularized. Other famous quarterbacks to wear the same number include Hall-of-Famers Steve Young and Troy Aikman. Aaron Rodgers also wore it on his jersey during his tenure with the Jets so that he did not have to sport the number '12' that was retired by the franchise in honor of Joe Namath.