The Pac-12 Conference applied for trademarks this month that attempt to cover various contingencies if the league—which currently has two members, with commitments to add six more in 2026—ends up eventually fielding nine, 10, 11, 13 or 14 schools.
On Dec. 11, the league filed applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the word marks for “Pac-9,” “Pac-10,” “Pac-11,” “Pac-13,” “Pac-14,” according to the USPTO’s online registry. That same day, the conference also officially pursued the marks to the numberless “Pacific Athletic Conference” and “The PAC Conference.”
The applications relate to publications, clothing, association services and broadcast or television programming. The league is using law firm Cooley, which has previously handled the Pac-12’s intellectual property work. On average, a successful trademark takes a little over a year to be registered, but trademark protection is retroactive to the date its application was filed.
A league spokesperson declined to comment.
To be sure, securing trademarks is a relatively perfunctory bit of legal housekeeping and doesn’t necessarily indicate grander plans are underway. In 1997, for example, the Big 12 Conference applied for the trademark for “Big 14,” which it let lapse a few years later. If the Pac-12 were to change its name in the future, it would likely require the approval of the league’s existing membership.
The Pac-12 had not previously applied for any new trademarks in the wake of UCLA’s and USC’s 2022 announcement that they would depart for the Big Ten. The league has existed as a Washington State-Oregon State dyad since August, when 10 of its dozen members officially absconded to other conferences.
Operating as the Pac 10 Conference from 1978 to 2011, the Pac-12 abandoned an illustrated “Pac-10” trademark in 2012–following the conference’s additions of Colorado and Utah–and its word marks for “Pac-10” and “Pacific-10” were canceled in 2016 for non-use. In June, the league renewed its “Pac-12” mark, which it originally applied for in 2010.
In September, the league’s board of directors voted unanimously to add five Mountain West Conference schools–Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Utah State–come July 1, 2026.
The following month, Gonzaga accepted an invitation to enter the Pac-12 at the same start date, but as a non-football-playing member. Around that same time, the trademark for the league’s one-time slogan, “Where Champions Play,” was canceled for non-use.
The Pac-12 would need to add another football school to reach the eight-program threshold necessary to qualify for the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The conference had reportedly pursued American Athletic Conference members Memphis, SMU, UTSA and Tulane, as well as the MWC’s UNLV and Air Force, but those schools ultimately decided to remain put.
Last month, the Pac-12 announced that it had retained Octagon to serve as its exclusive media rights advisor.
