The NFL, in it’s quest to own as much intellectual property as corporately possible, is suing t-shirt makers and sellers who have printed up and are selling  “Who dat?” t-shirts.

“Who Dat?” is a shortening of a long time New Orleans Saints cheer – “Who dat say dey beat dem Saints?”
In rebuttal and rebuke, US Senator David Vitter sent a letter to the NFL saying, “Dey can’t do dat”, but in more legalese terms.
He also stated he’s printing up his own t-shirts that read, “Who dat say we can’t print “Who Dat?” and challenging the NFL to sue him.
The NFL in it’s defense says they aren’t trying to stop any t-shirts that simply use the phrase “Who Dat?” but rather the ones that also incorporate the Saint’s logos or identifying trademarks like a fleur-de-lis, which is also a symbol of the City of New Orleans and also a symbol of France’s Bourbon monarchy. None of the Bourbons made it to the Super Bowl themselves, but did get a Street named after them in New Orleans’s French Quarter. They would have sued for such commercial use of their name for the street and their logo for the Saints, but they are well past the statute of limitation time frame, as far as we know. And the fact they mostly perished under a Guillotine in the 1800’s. But then again, the French monarchy is no match against the NFL, who is far more ruthless (“Let them eat beignets”. )

Further complicating what should be a simple two word saying that dates back to minstrel show days, there is also a company, Who Dat?, Inc.,  that has trademarked and has used in commerce, in t-shirts and other knick-knacks, the phrase “Who Dat?” .

Gotta love this particular intellectual property fight. It brings back memories of Pat Riley and his personally trademarked phrase “Three-peat”.  We only hope the Super Bowl game this year is as exciting as this battle.