Is there hope for Jey Uso's Yeet catchphrase? The WWE recently stopped having "Main Event" Jey use "Yeet" as a catchphrase and stopped selling "Yeet" merchandise at WWE Shop, leading to questions about why "Yeet" suddenly became forbidden. As we'll see, the case is more complicated than you may have heard.

A recent report from WrestleVotes explained what led to the WWE putting the brakes on Jey using "Yeet."

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What's the Yadda Yadda on "Yeet?"

It turned out that independent wrestler Kasey Huffman applied for the rights to "Yeet" on 6 July 2021. As WrestleLamia has noted in past stories regarding intellectual property (IP), the owner of any IP has to protect it fiercely or someone wishing to claim it can allege the IP owner has abandoned the use to the particular IP. However, in Huffman's case, it appears the trademark hasn't been approved yet.

A review of Huffman's trademark application reveals that Huffman's Application remains suspended. However, that's not the end of the road for Huffman. According to the lawsuit of trademark attorney Morris E. Turek:

A Letter of Suspension doesn’t affect the validity or viability of your trademark application.  Your trademark application remains active, live, and “in line,” but no further action will be taken on your application until the situation that occasioned the suspension is resolved.  In other words, your trademark application just sits at the USPTO and nothing else happens until the examining attorney determines that removal of your application from suspension is appropriate.  Sometimes, action on your application may only be suspended for a few months.  But, in some cases, your application could be suspended for many years.

H/T Yourtrademark.com

There's no word on why the trademark hasn't been approved but it could be due to something such as the trademark being too similar to another trademark.

WWE Hasn't Given Up on "Yeet"

In an exclusive report, Bodyslam.net's Cassidy Haynes revealed:

I asked sources within WWE about the situation surrounding the Yeet trademark and whether the company had completely abandoned the catchphrase and merchandise, and was told that “There is a legal claim against Yeet. WWE Lawyers are discussing it.” So, there may be hope yet for Yeet to stick around, as WWE hasn’t completely abandoned it, but has more or less suspended the usage while WWE Lawyers discuss all of the company’s options.

H/T Bodyslam.net

However, this doesn't mean the WWE can swoop in and grab "Yeet." If someone has a prior claim, they often have priority over anyone trying to file for the same trademark.

As WrestleLamia noted in one of our news videos, it's possible that the WWE could negotiate a deal with Huffman over his trademark application. At the risk of sounding cynical, it's also possible the WWE could bring in its crack team of attorneys and bury Huffman in litigation.

What do you think about this situation? Are you hopeful something can be worked out?