San Antonio Spurs
Trademark: San Antonio Spurs
First Used: 1973
Registered: 1979
Current Owner: SAN ANTONIO SPURS, LLC [1]
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark; non-traditional trademark; trade dress; configuration mark
Primarily Associated With: entertainment services comprising basketball competitions and exhibitions [2]
Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:
The court is swept and we are ready for tipoff. Congratulations to the San Antonio Spurs for advancing to the 2026 NBA® Finals! The series just tipped off, so let’s take a look at some trademark registrations celebrating the NBA’s championship game, including those owned by New York and San Antonio. Good luck Spurs!
The San Antonio Spurs began in 1967 as the Dallas Chaparrals, one of the original teams of the American Basketball Association (ABA). After struggling to build a steady following in Dallas, the franchise moved to San Antonio in 1973 and became the Spurs, a name that fit the city’s Texas identity and western imagery. Led by high-scoring star George Gervin, the Spurs quickly became one of the ABA’s strongest teams before joining the NBA as part of the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.
The Spurs found consistent success over the next two decades, but could never break through to the NBA Finals (despite drafting the Admiral David Robinson in 1987). Everything changed in 1997 when the Spurs won the draft lottery and took Tim Duncan first overall. Over the next two decades and behind stars Duncan, Robinson, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili, and longtime coach Gregg Popovich, the Spurs reached six NBA finals, winning five NBA championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014). In 2026, now led by rising star Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio is back in its seventh NBA Finals and hoping history repeats itself: its first title in 1999 was against the New York Knicks.
The Spurs owns trademark registrations for SAN ANTONIO SPURS® [4], SPURS® [5], and GO SPURS GO® [6]. Each word mark registration is for a variety of goods and services, including clothing, entertainment services, and more.
The team also owns trademark registrations protecting its various logos, including the San Antonio Spurs Primary Logo design mark [7], Spur Logo design mark [8], San Antonio Spurs Alternate Logo design mark [9], and SA Basketball Logo design mark [10]. Each design mark is registered in connection with different goods and services, including clothing, banners and blankets, playground balls, entertainment services, and more.
And finally, the Spurs famous all-black road uniforms are also protected by a non-traditional trademark registration. The Spurs Uniform configuration mark [11] is a registered trademark for clothing, namely jerseys and shorts.
Interested in matchups from other years? Check out our post on the 2025 NBA Finals featuring the champion Oklahoma City Thunder against the Indiana Pacers.
Interested in learning more about other 2026 sporting events? Check out our 2026 posts on the College Football National Championship, Team USA in the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl, Final Four, Masters (including the Masters 12th Hole and Masters Green Jacket), and Stanley Cup.
Copyright © 2026 by Illustrated IP, LLC. All rights reserved.
[1] San Antonio Spurs, NBA, https://www.nba.com/spurs.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,120,218, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73164555&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] San Antonio Spurs, BASKETBALL REFERENCE, available at https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/SAS/; The History of the San Antonio Spurs: From Chaparrals to Champions, TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, last updated June 1, 2022, and available at https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/san-antonio-spurs.
[4] Id. at 2.
[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,120,217, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73164554&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,731,092, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87788385&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,180,005, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78693548&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,834,622, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78250733&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,728,547, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87479158&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,278,236, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87479840&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[11] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,272,495, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74685412&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.