Trademark: World Series
First Used: September 1911
First Registered: November 1981
Current Owner: OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL [1]
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; non-traditional trademark; trade dress; configuration mark
Primarily Associated With: entertainment services in the nature of baseball games and exhibitions rendered live and through the media of radio and television broadcasts [2]
Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:
The grass is freshly mowed (or maybe overseeded with Pennington Green Grass Seed) and the FALL CLASSIC® is ready to start (and without the Dodgers for the first time in years). Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays for advancing to the 2026 World Series! This week we will be highlighting some World Series related trademark registrations, including those owned by Major League Baseball, the Brewers, and the Rays. Play ball!
The first modern World Series was played in 1903, following years of rivalry between the established National League and the newly formed American League. The inaugural championship featured the Boston Americans (later renamed the Boston Red Sox) against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with Boston overcoming a three-games-to-one deficit to win the best-of-nine series. The following year, the National League champion New York Giants refused to face Boston, resulting in the cancellation of the 1904 World Series. The championship returned in 1905 and has been played every year since, with the sole exception of 1994, when a players' strike canceled the postseason.
The World Series adopted its current best-of-seven format permanently in 1922, while the introduction of the League Championship Series in 1969 and subsequent playoff expansions changed how teams qualified for the championship. The World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award was introduced in 1955, followed by the Commissioner's Trophy in 1967, which is awarded annually to the winning team. The New York Yankees have dominated World Series history with a record 27 championships, including five consecutive titles from 1949 through 1953, followed by the St. Louis Cardinals with 11 titles. The championship has produced some of baseball's most memorable moments, including Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956, Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run in 1960, and the Chicago Cubs ending their 108-year championship drought in 2016. Most recently, the Los Angeles Dodgers captured consecutive World Series titles in 2024 and 2025, becoming the first team to repeat as champions since the Yankees won three straight from 1998 through 2000.
WORLD SERIES® is a registered trademark used primarily in connection with entertainment services in the nature of baseball games [4], but also for a wide range of other products and services including ornamental novelty items and clothing [5], toys and sporting goods [6], jewelry [7], and many others.
FALL CLASSIC® is a nickname for the World Series, and also a registered trademark used primarily in connection with entertainment services in the nature of baseball exhibitions [8], and also for magazines and programs relating to professional baseball [9], clothing [10], among others.
Finally, the three-dimensional configuration of the World Series Commissioner Trophy itself is a registered, non-traditional trademark, including primarily in connection with entertainment services, namely, baseball games and baseball exhibitions [11], but also for trophies of common metal [12] and trophies of precious metal, ornamental pins, lapel pins, rings, bracelets, charms for jewelry, non-monetary coins, clocks, key chains, and key rings [13].
Interested in matchups from other years? Check out our posts on the 2024 World Series, featuring the champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the New York Yankees, and the 2025 World Series, featuring the back-to-back champion Dodgers against the Toronto Blue Jays.
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), Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, World Cup, and WNBA Finals.
Copyright © 2026 by Illustrated IP, LLC. All rights reserved.
[1] About MLB, MLB, https://www.mlb.com/official-information/about-mlb.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,178,547, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73230895&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] World Series History, BASEBALL ALMANAC, available at https://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/wsmenu.shtml; World Series Winners, BASEBALL REFERENCE, available at https://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/wsmenu.shtml; MLB World Series Winners, ESPN, available at https://www.espn.com/mlb/worldseries/history/winners; Postseason History: World Series, MLB, available at https://www.mlb.com/postseason/history/world-series.
[4] Id.
[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,559,036, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73746394&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,615,625, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73800222&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,410,585, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78758454&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,653,242, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73758564&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,745,773, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74265679&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,859,780, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74461657&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[11] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,511,000, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87443723&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[12] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,511,001, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87443726&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[13] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5,511,002, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87443730&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.