He may not have been the first to use it. Or even the first to try to cash in on it.
But former Massachusetts basketball coach John Calipari has won preliminary approval to trademark the "Refuse to Lose" slogan popularized by the Minutemen in their first trip to the NCAA Final Four last season.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office gave preliminary approval this week to Calipari's application for a trademark on the motto that had been used by the university's teams at least since the 1990 Yankee Conference champion football squad, the Boston Globe reported.
Bill Strickland, sports information director, said the university understands that Calipari would allow it to continue to use the slogan for free and new basketball coach James "Bruiser" Flint plans to do so.
Commercial use of the slogan potentially is a multi-million dollar business. Calipari already has collected royalties from use of the motto, including on T-shirts for baseball's Seattle Mariners and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon's pit toolbox.
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However, Calipari, according to the Globe, copied the slogan from the university's 1990 football team, and was not the first to use it commercially.
The Globe reported that Duke University's women's tennis coach Joey Hyden was the first to apply for a trademark for the slogan, but sold his rights to Calipari for $3,500.
Calipari left U-Mass. last month to accept a $3 million-a-year contract to coach the NBA's New Jersey Nets, who plan to use the slogan on some merchandise, according to the Globe.
The newspaper said those who have used the slogan without permission have received cease-and-desist letters from Calipari's New York law firm.
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