Tebow Wins Approval for ‘Tebowing’ Trademark on Hats, Jewelry

New York Jets backup quarterback Tim Tebow has won approval to trademark “Tebowing,” a term used for his habit of going down on one knee and clenching his fist to his forehead as he prays during games.

Tebow filed under the name of Denver-based XV Enterprises LLC with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office late last year.

“I knew it was something that was cool for me in the past, but it’s not something that I do as ‘Tebowing,’” he told reporters yesterday. “It’s something that I do that’s prayer for me and then it got hyped up as ‘Tebowing.’”

The 25-year-old player was given approval to use ‘Tebowing’ on hats, shirts, T-shirts, as well as jewelry, clocks, watches, cuff links, tie pins, ornamental pins and holiday ornaments of precious metals.

He said he wanted “to just control how it’s used as well; make sure it’s used in the right way.”

Former New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin secured a trademark for “Linsanity,” a term that was spawned by his meteoric rise from undrafted player to starter. Lin, who now plays for the Houston Rockets, filed for the trademark Feb. 13, nine days after he came off the bench to score 25 points in the Knicks’ victory against the New Jersey Nets.

Registration numbers for Tebow’s trademarks will be issued after the 30-day period for protest is over. Tebow applied for the trademark for the apparel last Oct. 27 and for the jewelry and ornaments on Dec. 20, 2011, while he was the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net