Wiffle
Trademark: Wiffle
First Used: 1959
First Registered: February 1966
Current Owner: THE WIFFLE BALL, INC. [1]
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark
Primarily Associated With: bats and a device for tossing a ball [2]
Generic Phrase: ball or bat, as in WIFFLE® Brand ball or WIFFLE® Brand bat
Also A Trademark For: toy flying saucers and equipment sold as a unit for playing a toy golf game [3], simulated or auxiliary pliable plastic baseballs and a game played therewith [4], clothing, namely hats and shirts [5], downloadable mobile applications for arranging and conducting athletic competitions and leagues [6], and organizing and conducting and operating baseball sports tournaments, events and exhibitions [7], among others
Brief (and likely incomplete) History [8]:
The Wiffle® brand found its start in 1953 as David Mullany, a retired semipro baseball pitcher, watched his 12-year-old son and a friend play a game in their backyard with a perforated plastic golf ball and a broomstick. His son wanted to learn how to throw curveballs and sliders, but found his arm felt “like jelly” after a few days of backyard attempts. Gathering ball-shaped plastic containers from a local cosmetics manufacturer, Mullany experimented with cutting different shaped holes into each ball and having his son test and throw them. They eventually landed on a design featuring eight oblong slots cut into one half of the ball, allowing the ball to grab the air and swerve easily.
The design worked and soon Mullany’s son and neighborhood friends could easily throw curveballs and sliders in the backyard. The new game produced a higher number of strike-outs, which became known as “whiffs” around the neighborhood. Inspired by the neighborhood slang, Mullany dropped the “h” and branded his new game “Wiffle” when he started to supply the new ball to local stores in 1953. The Wiffle brand ball quickly gained popularity for its simplicity, safety, and fun, becoming a staple in American backyards and playgrounds.
The Wiffle brand has become so famous today that even the yellow color of Wiffle bats is a trademark!
Copyright © 2024 by Illustrated IP, LLC. All rights reserved.
[1] WIFFLE BALL MADE IN USA, WIFFLE, available at http://www.wiffle.com/default.asp?page=home.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 802,992, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=72211607&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 825,240, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=72229619&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,149,044, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73145997&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,423,472, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75939000&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,105,711, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88616345&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] Id.
[8] Welcome, WIFFLE BALL MADE IN USA, available at http://www.wiffle.com/pages/welcome.asp?page=welcome; How the Wiffle Ball Came to Be, SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, posted August 14, 2019, and available at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-wiffle-ball-came-to-be-180972900/; Wiffle Ball, THE STRONG NATIONAL MUSEUM OF PLAY, Inducted in 2017 and available at https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/wiffle-ball/; Wiffle Throws a Curve in American Leisure Time, CONNECTICUT HISTORY, posted June 4, 2021, and available at https://connecticuthistory.org/wiffle-throws-a-curve-in-american-leisure-time/; The Strange, but True, History of Wiffle® Ball on the Planet Earth, WORLD WIFFLE BALL CHAMPIONSHIP, available at https://worldwiffleball.org/history/.