Whose Number Is It Anyway? Lamar Jackson and the New Athlete IP Playbook

[1]

Kobe Bryant wore it.[2] Baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. wore it, as did Pro Football Hall of Famers Steve Young and Troy Aikman—who famously sported it while winning three Super Bowls with the Cowboys.[3] Dale Earnhardt Jr. carried it around NASCAR tracks for nearly two decades.[4] Different sports, different eras, different fanbases, but one number connects all of them: 8.[5] Now, Lamar Jackson, two-time NFL MVP and star quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, says the number belongs to him.[6]

For years, a jersey number was simply a way to identify an athlete on the field. Now, numbers can be something more: commercial assets that athletes use to build merchandise lines, licensing opportunities, and personal brands.[7] And as those brands become more valuable, the numbers attached to them can become sources of legal disputes.[8]

In August 2025, Jackson withdrew his opposition to Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman's company, FL101 Inc., which sought to use "EIGHT" on sports apparel and merchandise.[9] The withdrawal ended a dispute that had been pending before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for more than a year.[10] Jackson's attorney, Andrea Evans, withdrew the opposition with prejudice, meaning the challenge was permanently closed, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board made the dismissal official the following day.[11] The two sides have since reached a confidential settlement that clears the way for both quarterbacks to use their respective marks.[12] That resolution ended the most visible chapter of Jackson's trademark strategy. But it is also just one part of a much larger story about how modern athletes are learning to protect, and monetize, their own identities.[13]

Understanding Trademark Law

At its core, a trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device used in commerce to distinguish a brand’s goods from those of its competitors.[14] The strongest form of federal trademark protection requires registering the mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), which helps consumers verify the source of goods or services, helping distinguish them from those offered by different brands.[15]

Trademark owners can also challenge another party’s attempt to federally register a mark by filing an opposition before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”).[16] Under Section 2(d) of the Lanham Act, the TTAB may refuse registration where an applied-for-mark is likely to cause confusion with an existing mark.[17] To determine whether a likelihood of confusion exists, the TTAB considers factors established in In re E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.[18] These factors include the similarity of the marks, the similarity of the goods and services associated with them, the channels through which those goods or services are sold, the conditions under which consumers make purchases, and the strength of the existing mark.[19]

Unlike a federal trademark infringement lawsuit, a TTAB opposition concerns whether a mark may be federally registered and the TTAB does not award damages or issue injunctions against the use of the mark.[20] Sports apparel and athlete-branded merchandise are uniquely vulnerable to these disputes, as consumers routinely assume sports gear bearing iconic numbers, names, or logos is officially licensed or endorsed.[21]

However, trademark protection has clear boundaries—it does not extend to functional or purely decorative elements.[22] Features that serve an ornamental purpose to enhance aesthetic appeal, rather than function as an indicator of source, fall outside trademark scope.[23] This critical distinction between source identification and mere ornamentation often dictates the outcome when sports brands, collegiate entities, and athlete-driven ventures clash over rights to common numbers or logos.[24]

The Dispute

Jackson has spent years building a trademark portfolio around his personal brand, not just his play on the field.[25] In 2020, at age 23, Jackson filed a trademark for the word "Truzz" in classes 25 and 41 after the slang word was used during a Ravens press conference during the 2019-2020 season.[26] Both marks were registered, allowing protection for the wordmark “Truzz” for articles of clothing and production of film.[27] Jackson did this before getting the word tattooed on his chest and eventually putting the phrase on various clothing apparel to further profit on his growing brand.[28]

During that same period, Jackson also filed trademarks for "The Lamar Jackson Experience," "Not bad for a running back," and "You are going to get a bowl out of me, believe that!," catchphrases and pieces of his personality that could be turned into commercial assets.[29] He also registered "Era 8" and "Era 8 by Lamar Jackson," covering goods like clothing and sports bags and tying his personal brand directly to his jersey number.[30] Those "Era 8" registrations became the legal foundation for disputes with NASCAR legend Dale Earhardt, Jr and former Dallas Cowboys star-quarterback Troy Aikman.

Jackson v. Earnhardt

In April 2025, Jackson filed a formal Notice of Opposition with the TTAB challenging NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s application to register a stylized version of the number 8, the number Earnhardt drove under from 1999 to 2017.[31] Jackson argued that Earnhardt's application covered goods similar to his own "Era 8" marks and could cause consumer confusion or falsely imply a connection between the two athletes.[32] Jackson also maintained that he had become widely associated with the number 8 given his prominence in the NFL and the way he had built his merchandise around it, a fact he argued strengthened his position against Earnhardt's filing.[33]

Earnhardt abandoned the application less than a week later.[34] He explained on his podcast that he was not going to spend thousands of dollars fighting over a mark he did not plan to use, particularly because he had already secured the trademark he actually wanted, "Budweiser No. 8," from his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt.[35]

Jackson v. Aikman

Aikman's dispute with Jackson lasted considerably longer. The former Cowboys quarterback is listed as a director of FL101 Inc., a company that secured a trademark for "EIGHT" in June 2024, initially for an "additive-free" light beer and other beverages before expanding into apparel.[36] Jackson opposed both the beverage mark and the later apparel application, arguing that "EIGHT" conflicted with his "Era 8" and "YOU 8 YET?" registrations.[37] Under the "marks as a whole" framework, Jackson maintained that "Era 8" and "EIGHT" overlap and are confusingly similar, whereas Aikman countered that the two marks project distinct overall commercial impressions.[38]

The case continued for more than a year before Jackson withdrew his opposition in August 2025.[39] The withdrawal was filed with prejudice, permanently closing the proceeding.[40] Notably, the motion to withdraw was filed without consent from Aikman's team, though the Patent and Trademark Office's appeal board agreed to dismiss the opposition anyway.[41] According to a statement from Aikman's attorney, Brad D. Rose, the withdrawal came "in the wake of some TTAB decisions that have gone against him," suggesting Jackson's team saw the inevitable outcome after unfavorable Board rulings.[42]

Brand Identity: The Rise of the Influencer-Athlete

Both disputes highlight a modern trend in athlete branding and entrepreneurship. Jackson has trademarked a nickname ("Truzz"), a personal era ("Era 8"), and catchphrases, each one converting a piece of his persona into a potential commercial asset.[43] That's a shift from prior generations of stars, who leaned more on endorsement deals built around their name and likeness rather than owning the underlying IP themselves.[44]

However, fame alone doesn't create trademark rights anywhere in sports; ownership goes to whoever establishes rights through use in commerce or an Intent-to-Use filing.[45] The pool of available numbers to trademark keeps shrinking, as leagues cap them and retire others outright, like MLB's No. 42 for Jackie Robinson and the NBA's No. 6 for Bill Russell.[46] That scarcity is part of why athletes lean so heavily on filings like Jackson's to stake out commercial territory early.[47] It's also pushed athletes toward workarounds that sidestep the number problem entirely. Chad Johnson became "Ochocinco" (Spanish for his No. 85); others fused numbers with initials, like Chris Paul's "CP3," Cristiano Ronaldo's "CR7," and Carmelo Anthony's "Melo M3".[48]

Aggressive filing has its ceiling: it can't manufacture exclusivity where trademark law won't allow it, and the number 8 remains too diluted for any one athlete to fully own.[49] Jackson's real advantage isn't the number.[50] It's the layered identity around it, durable enough to survive the Aikman and Earnhardt disputes without giving him sole claim to the digit.[51]

What's Next?

The fight over "8" was never really about a number.[52] It's about whether identity itself, a number, a nickname, a catchphrase, can become a lasting business asset.[53] Jackson didn't end up owning "8," and probably no one ever will.[54] But his instinct to file early and protect aggressively is becoming the norm, not the exception, as NIL-trained athletes bring that playbook with them into professional sports.[55]

This trend tracks the rise of NIL (“Name, Image, and Likeness”).[56] Since the NCAA's 2021 uniform policy, college athletes have built brands and revenue streams before ever turning pro, part of a market that was projected to hit $2.75 billion in 2025-2026.[57] Unlike earlier generations, who rarely thought about trademarks or brand protection until deep into their careers, today's college athletes enter the pros already fluent in IP strategy.[58] Based on these growing trends, this certainly will not be the last trademark dispute between athletes who want to protect and fortify their brand identity.[59]

References

[1] Photo by Hudson Graves, A Gold Ring with a Black Background, Unsplash (Apr. 30, 2022), https://unsplash.com/photos/a-gold-ring-with-a-black-background-pk3-Mes2jsQ.

[2] See Cody Nagel, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson Drops Trademark Challenge to Troy Aikman Over the Use of No. 8, CBS Sports (Aug. 13, 2025), https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ravens-qb-lamar-jackson-drops-trademark-challenge-to-troy-aikman-over-the-use-of-no-8/. 

[3] See id.

[4] See Doric Sam, Lamar Jackson Withdraws No. 8 Trademark Challenge Against Cowboys Icon Troy Aikman, Bleacher Rep. (Aug. 13, 2025), https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25235914-lamar-jackson-withdraws-no-8-trademark-challenge-against-cowboys-icon-troy-aikman. 

[5] See Nagel, supra note 2.

[6] See Michael Rothstein, Lamar Jackson Withdraws Challenge to Aikman's No. 8 Trademarks, ESPN (Aug. 13, 2025), https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45965979/lamar-jackson-withdraws-challenge-aikman-no-8-trademarks. 

[7] See Mike McArthur & Caylee Phillips, Is That a Foul? Athletes Compete over Jersey Number Trademark Rights, Sports Bus. J. (May 15, 2025), https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/05/15/is-that-a-foul-athletes-compete-over-jersey-number-trademark-rights/. 

[8] See Jonathan Hyman, Jonathan Menkes & Edward Nester, When a Number Becomes a Brand — and a Risk, Sports Bus. J. (May 4, 2026), https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/05/04/when-a-number-becomes-a-brand-and-a-risk/. 

[9] See Matt Moret, Lamar Jackson Withdraws No. 8 Trademark Challenge Against Troy Aikman, N.Y. Times: The Athletic (Aug. 13, 2025), https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6551619/2025/08/13/ravens-lamar-jackson-troy-aikman-trademark-challenge/. 

[10] See Rothstein, supra note 6.

[11] See Moret, supra note 9.

[12] See Josh Gerben, Troy Aikman, Lamar Jackson Settle Trademark Dispute over Number 8, Gerben Law Firm (Aug. 12, 2025), https://www.gerbenlaw.com/blog/troy-aikman-lamar-jackson-settle-trademark-dispute-over-number-8/. 

[13] See Doug Masters & Seth Rose, Rise of the Athlete Creator: Legal and Business Implications for the New Era of Sports, Sports Bus. J. (June 15, 2026), https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/06/15/rise-of-the-athlete-creator-legal-and-business-implications-for-the-new-era-sports/. 

[14] See 15 U.S.C. § 1127 (2018).

[15] See What Is a Trademark?, U.S. Pat. & Trademark Off., https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/what-trademark (last visited Aug. 28, 2026).

[16] See 15 U.S.C. § 1063(a).

[17] See 15 U.S.C. § 1052(d) (2018).

[18] 476 F.2d 1357 (C.C.P.A. 1973).

[19] See id. at 1361.

[20] See 15 U.S.C. § 1067(a).

[21] See 15 U.S.C. § 1114(1) (2018).

[22] See What Is a Trademark, supra note 15.

[23] See id.

[24] See id.

[25] See Gabriel Fernandez, Lamar Jackson Took a Trademark Out on 'Truzz' Before Getting It Tattooed on His Chest, CBS Sports (Apr. 15, 2020), https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/lamar-jackson-took-a-trademark-out-truzz-before-getting-it-tattooed-on-his-chest/. 

[26] See id.

[27] See Reg. No. 6342811; see also Reg No. 8078829.

[28] See Fernandez, supra note 25.

[29] See id.

[30] See Jon Alfano, Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson in Trademark Dispute with NASCAR Legend Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sports Illustrated: Ravens On SI (Apr. 4, 2025), https://www.si.com/nfl/ravens/onsi/news/baltimore-ravens-lamar-jackson-trademark-dispute-nascar-legend-dale-earnhardt. 

[31] See id.

[32] See Benjamin D. Schwartz, Lamar Jackson Successfully Opposes Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Claim to No. 8, Nat'l L. Rev. (May 3, 2025), https://natlawreview.com/article/lamar-jackson-successfully-opposes-dale-earnhardt-jrs-claim-no-8.

[33] See Alfano, supra note 30.

[34] See id.

[35] See Moret, supra note 9.

[36] See id.

[37] See id.

[38] See id.

[39] See Rothstein, supra note 6.

[40] See Sam, supra note 4.

[41] See id.

[42] See Rothstein, supra note 6.

[43] See Fernandez, supra note 25.

[44] See Masters & Rose, supra note 13.

[45] See Hyman, supra note 8.

[46] See id.

[47] See id.

[48] See id.

[49] See Alfano, supra note 30.

[50] See Schwartz, supra note 32.

[51] See id.

[52] See id.

[53] See Fernandez, supra note 25.

[54] See Hyman, supra note 8.

[55] See Masters & Rose, supra note 13.

[56] See id.

[57] See id.

[58] See MacArthur & Phillips, supra note 7.

[59] See Hyman, supra note 23.