Local News
(2006-02-17)
NEW YORK
(WCPN) -
A New York federal judge has heard the screams from Cleveland's "Dawg Pound." A judge there says the Cleveland Browns and their fans earned the rights to the phrase before an apparel company tried to take it. The phrase became popular among fans after team members began calling the Browns defense the "dawg pound" in 1984. U-S District Judge Denny Chin has ruled that the Browns did not lose their rights to the phrase when Cleveland went without a pro football team from 1995 to 1999. The Hawaii-Pacific Apparel Group sued the Browns and the N-F-L's marketing arm in 2004. The California-based clothing company puts out shirts with phrases such as "Dawg Pound," "Lil Dawg Pound" and "Top Dawg."
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