Two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson is taking on a new opponent this week: longtime NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The Baltimore Ravens star is challenging Earnhardt Jr.’s pending trademark claim to a stylized No. 8 used for his race team, JR Motorsports.
Jackson’s legal team filed a notice of opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office Wednesday. The notice states ‘priority and likelihood of confusion’ as well as ‘false suggestion of a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols’ as the grounds for opposition.
Earnhardt Jr. used the No. 8 for much of his racing career. He ran the No. 8 car in the NASCAR Cup Series racing for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the race team owned by his father and seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt Sr.
When Earnhardt Jr. left Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) ahead of the 2008 season, he switched to the No. 88 with Hendrick Motorsports.
Earnhardt Jr.’s stepmother, Teresa, held the rights to No. 8 even after DEI merged with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2009. She let the rights expire in 2024 without renewing them, leaving Earnhardt Jr. to claim the No. 8. He uses that number for his teams in lower-level stock car racing formulas.
The No. 8 he used when racing for DEI is not what Jackson and his team are challenging. It’s a second, stylized No. 8 that is the point of contention.
‘[Earnhardt Jr.]’s mark is highly similar in sound, appearance, connotation, and commercial impression to [Jackson]’s trademarks and brand so as to be likely to cause confusion, or cause mistake, or to deceive,’ the notice of opposition states.
If this case is not settled, trademark attorney Josh Gerben estimates a trial for this latest challenge wouldn’t begin until 2026.
