Crackerjack vs. Frito Lay: Will We Lose Our Roller Derby Names?

In a worrisome development in the roller derby world, a skater has been opposed in court over the trademark of her derby name. Crackerjack, one of the founders of the Mad Rollin’ Dolls, president of WFTDA, and skater for the Texas Rollergirls, filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in order to be included in the upcoming roller derby video game, being produced by Frozen Codebase.

Frito-Lay, owner of the caramel coated snack “Cracker Jack” asserts that Crackerjack’s “alleged mark Crakerjack is confusingly similar to… registered Cracker Jack marks… as to be likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake or to deceive”. They filed an opposition on April 8, 2009 (the day of the deadline, the snarky bastards) to bar Crackerjack from using her name. You can find the filing here.

There are a few problems that I see with their argument:

1. Frito-Lay claims that the use of the name Crackerjack will confuse the public (because we’re all morons that can’t tell the difference between a rollergirl and sugared popcorn). However, when Crackerjack applied for her trademark, the USPTO informed her that there was nothing barring her from registering her name for roller derby purposes.

2. The word “crackerjack”, although rarely used in its original meaning, was originally used to mean “a person who is exceptionally skilful or expert” according to the Oxford English Dictionary. According to Frito-Lay, “the word Crackerjack is descriptive and, therefore should be barred from registration”. And their most offensive assertion: “Applicant’s use the name Crackerjack in connection with the provision of her services as a roller derby competitor, immediately describes, or misdescribes, Applicant and Applicant’s abilities in competing in roller derby sport competitions.”

This is the biggest slap in the face to Crackerjack. They are basically saying that she is not a good enough skater to use the “descriptive term” of crackerjack. However, this is a woman who founded a derby league in 2004 and is now the president of WFTDA! I don’t know her personally and have never seen her skate, but seeing her list of credentials makes me think that she is surely a competent enough skater to use this term.

3. On a note related to the word “crackerjack”, etymologist Barry Popik recently wrote an article about the word.

“Cracker Jack” was the nickname of a criminal in the 1870s. From at least 1888, “crackerjack” was a term applied to a fast horse. The term “crackerjack” was soon applied to a fast bicycle rider, a good baseball player and anything excellent or superior. Although the product name “Cracker Jack” is trademarked, “cracker jack” or “crackerjack” cannot be protected for all uses.

I find it interesting that there was a criminal nicknamed Cracker Jack around the time that Cracker Jack (the candy) began being produced. However, a rollergirl projects such a bad image upon their product that she would be detrimental to their brand. Give me a break!

4. “Opposer’s Cracker Jack mark, referred to in the well-known song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” suggests a strong association of Opposer’s products with sporting competitions, specifically baseball.” I’m very sad to hear that roller derby is no longer a sport.

I'd like to say that I will be boycotting Cracker Jack, however, being allergic to peanuts, I haven't eaten it in years. However, I will be making an effort to avoid as many Frito-Lay products as possible until this matter is resolved. I would like to invite others who feel the same way to join me in abstaining from Frito-Lay's products.

Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid (I've been known to do that from time to time), but what if Crackerjack loses her battle; would it set a dangerous precedent for the rest of us? Do I need to be afraid of Paramount taking me to court over my name? What about Polly Rocket? Does she need to be wary of the makers of Polly Pockets? What about Cherry Choke? What about everyone else in derby who has a name based off of a popular brand or celebrity? My name is a tribute to my favorite show of all time, but maybe I should wary of "The Powers That Be" finding out about my secret derby identity. (I’m pretty sure my name is far enough removed from the original to be safe, however, with the economy the way it is, every company is out to make a dollar.)

Unfortunately, it seems like issues like these will continue to crop up as roller derby becomes more popular. First it was the battle between the Rat City Rollergirls and Starbucks, now it’s Crackerjack vs. Cracker Jack. Let’s hope that roller derby players and fans will stand behind Crackerjack in the fight for her identity. If we don’t, we all might end up losing ours.

I welcome civilized discussion.