Trademark for proposed Atlantic Schooners team quietly secured

Fans-display-an-Atlantic-Schooners-banner-at-the-Toronto-Edmonton-CFL-game-at-Moncton-Stadium-in-Moncton,-N.B.-on-Sunday,-Sept.-26,-2010.-The-team-was-to-join-the-CFL-in-the-1980s-but-never-played-a-game-because-funding-could-not-be-secured-for-a-stadium.-(Andrew-Vaughan/CP)

Fans display an Atlantic Schooners banner at the Toronto-Edmonton CFL game at Moncton Stadium in Moncton, N.B. on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010. The team was to join the CFL in the 1980s but never played a game because funding could not be secured for a stadium. (Andrew Vaughan/CP)

HALIFAX — It appears that a step has quietly been taken in the bid to add the Atlantic Schooners to the Canadian Football League field.

Global News is reporting that the trademark for Atlantic Schooners — one of the prospective names for a CFL franchise in Halifax — has officially been registered by an organization known to be interested in bringing a football team to the East Coast.

The trademark would allow the holder to control intellectual property associated with the name such as licence plate holders, athletic apparel and football figurines.

The trademark holder is also listed as having an interest in protecting the copyright when it comes to the broadcasting and re-broadcasting of football games, personal appearances by a sports celebrity or football player and the sales of sporting goods.

The league confirmed last month that it has been in talks with a “professional, enthusiastic and impressive” group of prospective owners rallying for a Halifax franchise.

Anthony Leblanc, a former president and CEO of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, is a partner in the group.

Public documents filed with both the province of Nova Scotia and trademark application link LeBlanc with 3312738 Nova Scotia Limited, a numbered company that now owns the registered Atlantic Schooners trademark.

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