Rockies close to 'Rocktober' trademark

DENVER - The team's tight-lipped quest to "own" Rocktober is closer to completion after a key approval from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The Colorado Rockies Baseball Club, a corporation, filed four separate requests last October, seeking to lock up the right to use the word "Rocktober." The application is currently "published for opposition," providing a one-month period for challenges to the trademark. That window ends on April 25.

If no successful challenges are mounted, the Rockies would simply need to show the Patent and Trademark Office they are using "Rocktober" publicly for the trademark to be awarded.

When the Rockies originally filed their trademark request, bar owners in LoDo, near Coors Field, expressed concern that the trademark would prohibit them from marketing "Rocktober" events and specials during baseball's postseason run.

The Rockies request also seeks to prohibit other parties from using "Rocktober" on a long list of commercial items including foam fingers, baseballs, batting gloves and athletic supporters, commonly known as jock straps.

The Rockies confirmed their interest in the trademark last fall but declined to discuss the issue at length or on-camera.

Reached for comment Wednesday, Jay Alves, a Rockies spokesperson, referred to the process as a "routine procedure" that the organization will let "play out."

Charlene Krough, a trademark attorney with the Denver firm of Dorsey & Whitney, told 9NEWS in October that the Rockies are looking for a financial opportunity in filing for the trademark.

"It's the word and the rights to make money off the word," Krough said. "I don't think anyone needs to be concerned with saying, 'This is Rocktober.'"

Of course, for the trademark to be of much value to the Rockies corporation, the team needs to battle through its early-season struggles and mount another run into "Rocktober."