Max Verstappen’s team has filed a trademark application for his iconic celebratory catchphrase ‘simply lovely’.
F1 World Champion Max Verstappen has set his sights to trademark a phrase associated with him in the European Union. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) disclosed that the trademark ‘Simply Lovely Inspired by Max Verstapped’ was filed on 21st May this year.
The Dutch driver began using the phrase ‘simply lovely’ in the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix. Upon surpassing competitor Sebastian Vettel on the first lap, Verstappen conveyed ‘simply, simply lovely’ to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who replied, ‘oh, simply mate.’ Since then, the phase has been popularised and associated with Verstappen through his usage of the phrase over radio messages.
The trademark application filed with EUIPO indicates Verstappen’s desire to legally make the phrase his own. Three days prior to filing, McLaren’s Lando Norris was heard using Verstappen’s ‘simply lovely’ during his celebratory cooldown lap.
Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix only to beat Verstappen at his home race. However, Norris had defended himself saying the expression was said in jest and his intention was not to take a jab at Verstappen’s loss.
It is no surprise after this incident, Verstappen has taken measures to protect ‘simply lovely’ as a phrase identified to himself. Furthermore, the application published by EUIPO indicated Verstappen and his team are looking to utilize the phrase in the sale of merchandise, such as a clothing line.
According to the application, the trademark is filed under three classes: 25, 35 and 41. In addition to the phrase ‘simply lovely’, a logo has also been lodged to be approved as part of the trademark.
These three classes include goods and services such as clothing (class 25), advertising, business strategy, merchandising, marketing, toiletries, multimedia apparatuses (class 35), education, training, sporting activities (class 41) and more.
No opposition has been submitted to the EUIPO thus far.
Should the application be approved, we would imagine Verstappen’s response to be: ‘Simply lovely.’
(source)
