Jennifer Chicoski
A trademark examining attorney with the United States Patent and Trade Office

On October 17, 2005, the SDSU Sports Business Management MBA program welcomed Ms. Jennifer Chicoski, a trademark examining attorney with the United States Patent and Trade Office.

During her tenure with the USPTO, Ms. Chicoski has been the trademark examining attorney for a number of entities within the sports world, and she shared examples of these sports trademarks with the class.

After a background lecture on patents, copyrights, and trademarks as these concepts pertain to the sports industry, Ms. Chicoski conducted an interactive discussion about the trademark application process.

Ms. Chicoski then discussed her work with the flood of “Curse”-related trademark applications following the Boston Red Sox winning of the 2004 World Series.

Using actual examples of trademarks that were accepted and rejected, Ms. Chicoski prompted the class to use the USPTO’s criteria to determine which applications were acceptable for federal trademark protection.

San Diego State University wishes to thank Ms. Chicoski for taking the time to visit with the Sports Business Management MBA students and sharing her expertise with the class.