ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The grassroots group that rallies fans at St. Louis CITY SC games with drums and song is hoping to keep it's good name.
Mitch Morice, a board member for the St. Louligans, says their group is working to ensure that their trademark is protected.
Morice says last year, they noticed that people were trying to sell what Morice jokingly calls "bootleg merchandise".
"There were these Instagram, Facebook, TikTok ads with the Louligans logo saying 'buy a t-shirt, buy a hat' that wasn't us," said Morice. "We said 'you know what, we really need to trademark the logo, we can stop these people that way.'"
"Several hundred dollars later, we have our logo trademarked. When we went through the whole process....we learned that somebody had trademarked the name 'Louligans' and 'Louligan'. We were disappointed to say the least."
Morice says when the St. Louligans, who will be their 15th year supporting soccer in St. Louis, found out, they reached out to an attorney who specializes in IP and told them they had a great case, but it would be lengthy and costly.
But however Morice says the St. Louligans board did realize that they did not have the funds available for a lengthy and drawn out legal battle.
"We rather use our budget for continuing to help the community, continuing to move that money towards events, the tifos that hang at the stadiums, the scarfs to sell to fund the charities, donations," said Morice. "It's money much better spent going back into the community of St. Louis than going to lawyers, corporations and the federal government to try to make sure our name is owned by us."
KMOX News reached out to the Maryland Heights beverage and flavor company Beck Flavors connected with the trademark for 'Louligan' and 'Louligans'.
In a statement, Beck Flavors tells KMOX News it is common to pursue trademarks on behalf of their clients.
The company adds the trademark filing for their client is not for "SAINT Louligans" and does not contain the skull and cross bones logo.
Beck Flavors says due to the non-disclosure agreement they are unable to disclose the name of the client or reveal its plans for future product releases.
Morice says at the moment, the running sentiment from the St. Louligans is that "it's not much different than those bootleg t-shirts."
"It's a brand we have put a lot of blood, sweat, tears and money into over the last 15 years," said Morice. "It's well known throughout the country as a soccer supporters group. It's even known in England in some of their newspapers as a supporters group."
"The city gave us a section of 21st street called Louligan Street right next to Schlafly Beer right next to the park. So, we have a reputation we have built...but at the end of the day, I think it's acceptable that we helped build a community that has taken off like wildfire in the north end of the stadium."
Morice says if someone wants to make money off the name, he can't stop them, but he urges people to go support the business that partnered up with the St. Louligans and are contracted to use their logo like Schlafly Beer, Steve Hot Dogs, 2nd Shift Brewing.
"We all have an agreement with them to use our name and our logo," said Morice. "Support those people that support us. That's the best way to go about things."