• The Times-Picayune, Monday, February 1, 2010 10:44 AM

In a move sure to delight defenders of the first-amendment right to regional dialect everywhere, the National Football League isn't claiming that it owns exclusive rights to the phrase "Who Dat?" after all, Jaquetta White reports. But it does invoke trademark ownership when the phrase and the New Orleans Saints' fleur-de-lis logo are used on products that that use "other trademarks or identifiers of the Saints."

" 'Who Dat' we do not claim to own by itself," says NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. "It's when 'Who Dat' is used in conjunction with Saints marks that it's a problem." McCarthy says T-shirts and items with 'Who Dat' and a fleur-de-lis logo unlike the one owned by the Saints are okay as long as they are not advertised as being Saints or NFL paraphernalia, White reports.

Fans were enraged when the NFL sent letters to two New Orleans shops ordering them to stop selling merchandise that it said violates trademarks held by the Super Bowl-bound football team.

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