A LIVESTRONG Trademark Portfolio

The Lance Armstrong Foundation, a non-profit corporation in Texas, has at least seventeen registered or pending trademarks on file at the U.S. Trademark Office. At least seven of these trademarks are for the mark "LIVESTRONG" used or proposed for use on or in association a number of goods and/or services. One of those marks for "LIVESTRONG" has been registered for jewelry in International Class 14 and charitable fundraising services in International Class 36. A number of the Foundation's applications are for a design mark that consists of a three-dimensional design of a band that is yellow in color. On May 22, 2006, the Foundation filed an application for a design mark that consists of a band of yellow color as it appears on a single sleeve of a shirt in International Class 25.

The yellow LIVESTRONG wristband was developed by Lance Armstrong in the summer of 2004 in an effort to raise $5 million for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The wristbands were manufactured and donated by Nike and sold for $1 each. The wristbands became very popular in the U.S. by the end of the summer of 2004 and have adorned the wrists of professional athletes, presidential candidates, news anchors and actors. By March 2005, over 58 million wristbands had been purchased. The demand for the wristbands led to profiteering through online auction sites like ebay, allegedly disappointing Armstrong. Counterfeit wristbands are also widely available. The LIVESTRONG wristband inspired numerous wristbands for charities and causes, including pink wristbands for cancer, colored wristbands for collegiate university pride, various colors for diabetes and half blue, half red wristbands for epilepsy.