Board Thread:General Nerf discussion/@comment-30049823-20200205064906/@comment-27306930-20200205235942

That whole story about the Arkansas Razorbacks sounds specious to me. There's a lot of holes in it. First, the team is called the Razorbacks, not Razorback. So I asked my friend the patent & trademark attorney whether "Razorback" could be trademarked. And it can. But a trademark like that is very narrow and would only protect the University of Arkansas from another sports team using that name. It doesn't mean nothing else in the whole world can ever be called a razorback. For instance, "Acme" is a frequently registered trademark. But there are thousands of companies and products that use Acme in their names. So that premise is BS.

Second, if the early models had "Razorback" inscribed on the handle, and Hasbro went to all the trouble of redesigning the handle and making new molds, why didn't they replace it with a handle that said Razorbeast? And just look at the handle. Where would they inscribe either of those names? In 6 point font? Plus, I couldn't find a single picture of this supposed original Razorback. So I don't buy it. Literally and figuratively.

And third, back in 1994 there was an established company called Razor-Back Professional Tools that already had a registered trademark on that name (with a dash). Why didn't the University of Arkansas make them change it too? Or how about Razorback Pegs for Harley motorcycles? Just google it, there are dozens of companies that have been around since 1994 that either have "Razorback" in their name, or sell products that include it in their names. Why would the University target Kenner and not the dozens of other companies using that name? So that bit of the story doesn't make any sense either.

Seriously, if no one has any evidence to back up that story, then it should be moved to the Trivia section. On many levels, it seems too implausible to be real history.