URL: http://www.abqjournal.com/quirky/isotopes06-02-02.htm

June 6, 2002
Gone Fission: 'Isotopes' Trademark Secured
By Dennis Latta Journal Staff Writer     The Isotopes Homer Simpson's favorite baseball team appear to be within an atom of a done deal in the Duke City.
   Ken Young, general managing partner of Albuquerque Baseball Inc., says the process is almost complete for choosing a name for the Pacific Coast League team moving to Albuquerque.
   Young says he has secured trademarks for Isotopes and several other names as a protective measure. But he's mum on the others.
   ''I haven't divulged them,'' Young says.
   So, what's the delay in announcing the name?
    He won't announce it for a few more weeks because the team logos and colors are being chosen.
   ''I decided to put everything together in a neat package," he said last week. "We want to announce the name, the logo and the colors all together.
   Young has said Isotopes have been the leading candidate. The moniker comes from an episode of "The Simpsons," the popular animated show on the Fox network.
   The Isotopes, 'Topes, or Isos whatever baseball fans might call them would find a mixed reception if cartoon fantasy mushrooms into Albuquerque reality.
   Odds are the name won't be Dukes, and that's a blow to traditionalists.
   Mayor Martin Chavez has come out in favor of the name of Dukes. But he has noticed that age plays a big role in what name people want.
   ''There definitely does seem to be an age division on this," Chavez says. "The older people want Dukes, and the younger ones want Isotopes. My e-mail has been split.''
   The mayor acknowledges that the under-30 age bracket favors the name because those individuals grew up watching "The Simpsons." Those in the over-50 bracket apparently think it's foolish at best. Those in between seem divided.
   ''It's up to the owners," Chavez says. "They pick the name. I'm having a lot of fun with this.   Al Jean, executive producer of "The Simpsons," calls the hoopla "amazing."
   ''At every turn, I run into the popularity of the show,'' he says.
   How did the show, set in the nondescript town of Springfield, come up with the name Isotopes?
   ''I don't remember who the writer was,'' Jean says. ''It's because (a nuclear power plant) is (Springfield's) biggest industry.''
   Because the first atomic bomb was exploded in New Mexico in 1945, Homer should be at home here. In the original episode, he staged a hunger strike to keep the Duff Beer Corp. from moving the Isotopes to Albuquerque, and he succeeded.
   Whatever the name turns out to be, it might not end up emphasized on the team's uniforms.
   ''On a personal basis, I like having the city you're from on the front of the uniform," Young says. "We haven't decided if the primary hat will have the nickname or Albuquerque on it.''
   Rest assured, a logo of some sort will accompany the Isotopes if that's the chosen name and that logo should be a hot item when it comes to merchandising.
   ''There could be a lot of great marketing,'' Young says. ''A lot of it is going to come down to having the right logo.''
    The logo for the fictitious Springfield Isotopes features an electron orbiting an atom. Would it be a problem if the logo for the Albuquerque Isotopes were similar?
   ''That would be a matter for Fox legal,'' says Jean.
   Young says he secured trademarks for several names because people were trying to grab them in hopes of selling them to him for a profit.
   For example, the Internet domain names Abqisotopes.com and Abqisotope.com recently were snatched up and are now up for sale. A company from Las Vegas, Nev., has taken AlbuquerqueIsotopes.com.
   Albuquerque's PCL team was called the Dukes for 29 seasons.
   But that name was sold to a group in Portland, Ore., with the franchise in 2000. It would cost at least $15,000 to get the name back.
   In any case, it's not likely Homer Simpson would find it in his heart to cheer for the Dukes.