The Cats
With The Eats

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A trademark dispute with the Red Wings
is taking some of the fun out of life
for the creators of the red foam Wing-Nut! cap.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN

Special to the Jewish News

A

ll they wanted was to work
with the Red Wings to mar-
ket a trendy hat to crazed
fans. Really.
But what began as an innocuous
brainstorm two years ago has become
more of a torrential downpour since.
Marc Kellman, 24, and his uncle,
David Kellman, 32, have had success
selling the red foam hats that look like
large wingnuts and go by the same
name. Now, the Red Wings are trying

to shut down their business, when all
ketball at Akiva Hebrew Day School,
the pair say they want is•to work with
said the Kellmans applied for a regis-
the team.
tration to trademark the term
While no one has filed an official
"Wingnut" in reference to the hats
lawsuit, Kenneth Kohn, a lawyer with
they sell; the registration has been
Kohn and Associates in Farmington
approved by the trademark office,
Hills who represents the Kellmans,
•
Kohn said.
said the Red Wings, using National
A third party can, however, oppose
Hockey League (NHL) attorneys, "are
a trademark registration, and the Red
opposing the use of the
.
Wings are apparently saying
Kellmans' trademark" in a pro- Marc Kellman
the term too closely resem-
cedural two-party dispute at
bles
other Red Wings logos
shows
the trademark office. Kohn,
and
sobriquets.
The Red
left an right
who specializes in intellectual
Wings
press
office
did not
wings of the
property and also coaches bas-
return a series of phone calls
Wingn ut hat.

oi

the

by press time; Bernadette Mansur, vice
president-cornmunications for the
NHL, said, "When a matter is in dis-
pute, when there are some legal impli-
cations as with this, we have no com-
ment."
In the meantime, the Kellmans - who
work at David Kellman's wedding shop,
Miracle Wedding Village, in Dearborn
Heights - have racked up lawyers' bills
nearing $60,000 and want nothing
more than to merge with Red Wings
merchandisers to sell their product.
More than two years ago - well
before the Red Wings won the first of
two back-to-back Stanley Cup victo-
ries - the Kellmans, through their
company, Wingnut, Inc., created a red
foam-injection hat that rises about
eight inches high and 16 inches wide.
The goofy Wingnut hats are made by
Mac Specialties in Freeport, N.Y., and
sell for between $16 and $20 apiece,
at various JCPenney, Meijer, Wal-Mart
and Sears stores, as well as at the
Sports Gallery in Birmingham and
Fanatic U in Livonia.
Bottom line? "We're looking to sell
these hats," says Marc Kellman, who
lives in Commerce Township and •
belongs to Temple Israel. David lives
in White Lake Township. "We'd like
to have a partnership with the Red
Wings if they're willing, but we don't
see that happening."
Prior to the 1997 playoffs, the pair
went to the Red Wings marketing
folks when they first came up with the
idea, toting a sample hat.
"They basically were really busy,"
recalls Marc Kellman. "We said, 'Show
it to the Illitches.' We were just look-
ing for a royalty back then."
The Red Wings didn't bite, so the
Kellmans asked if they could legally
market the idea themselves. "They
said, 'Yeah, as long as•you don't have a
logo on there, it's not really an
infringement.' We were kind of disap-
pointed because we wanted the Red
Wings on our side," he said.
•
JCPenney was the first local store to
pick up the product, followed by
Sears. The Kellmans sent sample hats
to the major TV networks in town,
plus ESPN, all of Which aired small
segments about their venture. Then
the Red Wings called.
At a second meeting, a team mar-
keting official voiced interest in carry-
ing the hats, but when told their ask-
ing price, he apparently balked.
"They wanted the logo on there; it
was too late to do that, so they backed
away," Kellman recalls. "A third Red
Wing person called us, wanted some

9/11

1998

Detroit Jewish News

131