Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will have to wait to get the nickname “Iceman” trademarked.
According to Josh Gerben of GerbenLaw.com, “the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued an initial refusal of Williams’ trademark application, concluding that the proposed mark is too similar to an existing trademark owned by LaCrosse for its ‘Iceman’ line of insulated boots.”
The decision on June 24 indicated that “because the marks are identical and at least some of the products listed in Williams’ application could be considered related to Lacrosse’s boots, consumers could mistakenly believe they come from the same source,” Gerben wrote.
The LaCrosse Rubber Mills Company was founded and based in 1897 and started building footwear in 1906. In 1986, the company was officially recognized as LaCrosse Footwear. The company introduced “the first double-insulated construction in the Iceman boot, followed by triple insulation in the Ice-King Boot.”
According to ESPN, a trademark for “Iceman” was filed in 1988 by LaCrosse Footwear for the insulated boots.
Williams’ pursuit of the trademark isn’t over with this intial refusal, Gerben wrote.
Gerben noted that initial refusals from the USPTO are actually common, and “roughly 65% of new trademark applications reviewed by the USPTO have been refused so far in 2026.”
When it comes to the products and services that Williams seeks protection from with the ‘Iceman’ trademark, some of those items include but are not limited to clothing, digital trading cards, water bottles and footballs.
The NFL has leaned into Williams’ nickname, especially with the Bears’ quarterback being named this year’s Madden cover athlete. On the deluxe version of the game, Williams is on the cover doing his signature “Iceman” celebration, which Williams debuted throughout the 2025 season.
Williams can still appeal the ruling, and regardless of the outcome with LaCrosse, the Bears’ quarterback still has another obstacle in his way. Hall-of-Fame basketball player George Gervin also used to go by that moniker during his playing days in professional basketball.
In an interview with Front Office Sports, Williams shared his initial intentions to trademark the “Iceman” nickname.
“It’s funny because I didn’t know,” Williams said. “My dad probably knows his nickname was that, but it’s not between me and George or anything like that, it’s more or less people making clothing or people making things like that. And I can’t control what people are making of me or anything like that and putting the name on it. So, it’s just to control that aspect of it. That was the main reason of doing it.”
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