‘Patroons’ name can only belong to Albany
As most of you know, the Albany Patroons is a local basketball team with a proud legacy. Back in the 1980s, when the old Continental Basketball Association was thriving, the Patroons were all the rage around here. The legendary team packed the Washington Avenue Armory. It had players and coaches — Phil Jackson! George Karl! — who went to the NBA. The team had a cool name and a great logo, too.
But about that name and logo. This week, the current incarnation of the team — now competing in the fledgling basketball league known, with admirable understatement, as The Basketball League — received a cease-and-desist letter from a Syracuse man, Derek Demperio, who says he is the rightful owner of the Patroons logo and name.
“I was always interested in logos,” Demperio told me. “They
weren’t using it, and it was just sitting there for someone to trademark. That’s what we did.”
Demperio, apparently watching like a hawk, attempted to snatch “Albany Patroons” and “Pats” just days after the trademark was allowed to lapse in 2016, according to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records. The Patroons say he has no legal right to the name.
At the moment, Demperio is selling T-shirts with what the team calls its throwback logo, which features a dutch clog, a basketball and the word “Pats.” Eventually, Demperio said, he would like to operate a basketball team with the name — perhaps even in, gasp, Syracuse or some other locale not named Albany.
In the meantime, he’s demanding that the Patroons stop calling themselves the Patroons — or at least pay him to do so. Here in Albany, the Patroons say that amounts to extortion.
OK, so this isn’t like the New York Yankees or the Boston Celtics fighting for their names. The Patroons aren’t that iconic.
Still, let me suggest that this should be seen as nothing less than an affront to Albany’s civic pride and culture. The team name has historic relevance in this old Dutch patroon-ship of ours — and it’s going to be stolen away by Syracuse, a lakeside mistake known for a huge mall, Jim Boeheim and horrific mountains of snow?! Unacceptable.
The trademark dispute comes as the Patroons prepare to start their third season in The Basketball League with a new owner, Tim Maggs, a chiropractor from Schenectady. Among Patroons management, Demperio is about as popular as church flatulence.
It could even be an existential threat, given that the appeal of Patroons nostalgia and tradition is a way the team can attract fans in a region that has sometimes struggled to support professional sports.
“It’s just unfortunate,” Patroons General Manager Michael Corts said of the trademark dispute. “Everybody in Albany is excited for this to kick off and succeed, and this is just a thorn in everybody’s side.”
As they take their case to the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the Patroons say Demperio and his company, Demperio Sports & Entertainment, are “wrongfully and fraudulently” trying to benefit from the reputation the Patroons built over decades in their prior incarnations.
“This gentleman has no right to the name Albany Patroons,” Cort said, adding that the team has no intention of finding another name. “I’m not sure he’s ever set foot in Albany.”
Has he?
“A couple times,” Demperio said.
Demperio wouldn’t tell me what he does for a living, but he said acquiring old sports trademarks is sort of a side hobby. Though not a lawyer, Demperio sounded confident he’ll win the dispute with the Albany basketball team that at the moment continues to call itself the Patroons.
I won’t pretend to know how this will end. But in case the dispute doesn’t go the way of our local basketball franchise, please let me suggest a few alternative names for the team that begins playing again in February. Here goes:
Albany Orange — Two can play that game, Syracuse.
Albany Aardvarks — Alliteration almost always alights an audience’s attention.
Albany Cuomos — This one would hurt ticket sales, but it could be helpful if the team is desperately in need of state funding.
Albany Senators — A bit dull, but it’s the historic name of several minorleague baseball teams.
Albany Corruption — Instead of a boring name that references state government — you know, like the Senators — the team could go with a name that really captures the flavor of New York’s Capitol.
Albany Troys — Everybody knows Troy is cooler than Albany, so why not capitalize?
I kid, Albany, I kid. Obviously, no alternate can ever be better than Patroons.
The name isa classic and, like Nipper or the Capitol or the Tulip Festival in Washington Park, everybody knows it belongs to Albany.