I wonder if Lebron got the idea to try and trademark "Taco Tuesdays" from Riley.

Either way, this is dumb. It's clearly no longer associated with any business so the trademark should expire.

Thomas Bonk coined Phi Slamma Jamma but no copyright royalties.

Bonk takes it all in his long, lanky stride. I thought Bonk couldn’t cash in because he wrote “Phi Slama Jama” for the newspaper.

“That’s not the way it works,” he said. “Had nothing to do with the paper. It was the way copyright laws work. If you create a slogan or a marketing campaign for the purpose of making a marketing campaign, that’s a different story. I didn’t do that though. So it didn’t work. I thought about assigning a tax value to it and charging it off on my income tax but that didn’t work. So the best way was to donate it to the university. It’s a state school, my dad worked at a state school, he was an educator at a state school, just a better way to do it. and I’m happy the way it worked out. It’s OK.”

Bonk has, at least, been given proper credit for the phrase and will soon be featured in an upcoming ESPN “30 for 30” on Phi Slama Jama.

I think espn made a mistake confusing patents with trademarks

Three-peat is a trademark not a patent

According to Brave ai:

Pat Riley Three-Peat

Pat Riley trademarked the phrase "Three-Peat" in 1988 while he was the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. The term, a combination of the words "three" and "repeat," refers to winning three consecutive championships. Riley secured this trademark amid the Lakers' pursuit of a third consecutive NBA title, though they ultimately lost in the Finals that year to the Detroit Pistons.

Riley's trademark has since generated royalties for him when other teams achieve a "three-peat." For example, he earned $300,000 in royalties when the Chicago Bulls won three consecutive NBA championships in the 1990s. Additionally, if the Kansas City Chiefs win a third consecutive Super Bowl, Riley stands to make more money due to the trademark.

The trademark has been challenged several times over the years, with critics arguing that the term is too generic and widely used in sports. Despite these challenges, Riley's company, Riles & Co., continues to maintain the trademark and license it for use in merchandise and promotions related to teams achieving a "three-peat."

If ever there were a case study example for the stupidity of IP its a man owning the "rights" to a phrase/word.