Pat Riley's company, Riles & Co., has filed to trademark the phrase "3-Peat" on bed covers, linens, blankets, sheets and towels.
The filing was submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Monday but didn't appear on the government organization's website until Friday.
The filing is the second the Miami Heat president's company has made in the past 10 days. On May 15, Riles & Co. filed a trademark application to use "3-Peat" on jewelry, including rings, and other sports memorabilia.
Heat spokesman Tim Donovan said Riley wouldn't comment and forwarded requests to attorney John Aldrich, who co-owns the trademark to the phrase for use on other products with Riley. Aldrich did not return multiple calls seeking comment.
Nearly 25 years after Riley first trademarked the phrase, hoping his Los Angeles Lakers would win three in a row, he is finally poised to cash in on one of his own teams if the Heat can win the title this season.
Although it's not known whether Riley will license the phrase to retailers, his company's recent actions suggest he's thinking about it.
Riley first filed for "Three-Peat" at the start of the 1988-89 season, months after the Lakers won their second title. The Lakers fell to the Detroit Pistons the following year, but Riley cashed in in 1993, when the Chicago Bulls three-peated, and when they did it again in 1998. The trademark also was used for the New York Yankees (1998-2000) and the Lakers (2000-02).
Riley has continued to add to his "Three-Peat" empire over the years by registering the phrase in various versions, including "3Peat" and "ThreePeat." Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has protected the phrase by making initial rulings against filings by other individuals that refer to three-peat and the Heat such as "Heat3Peat" and "Big3Peat."
