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Kaepernicking trademarking hardly a distraction

San Diego St Nevada Basketball

Nevada junior Carolann Cavallo holds a sign for San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Nevada alumnus Colin Kaepernick during an NCAA college basketball game between Nevada and San Diego State, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, in Reno, Nev. The 49ers are scheduled to play the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL football Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans on Sunday, Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)

AP

It was inevitable, we suppose, that 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick would be questioned and/or criticized for filing an application for trademark protection of the term “Kaepernicking.”

Skip Bayless of ESPN tweeted today that the effort to secure legal rights to the term “scares” the opinionated analyst.

“Stay focused, win Super Bowl first,” Bayless said.

This assumes that Kaepernick has eschewed his playbook for the paperwork that need to be filled out when applying for federal trademark protection. Surely, his lawyers and agents handled that for him, with minimal involvement from the player.

Besides, it’s smart to protect Kaepernick. If he doesn’t file for the trademark rights, someone/anyone else could do it. Failure to take those steps would be, frankly, malpractice.

Thus, while Kaepernick focuses on practice and film study and everything else, the people he has paid to take care of these things will take care of them.

So don’t be scared, Skip. Or if you’re going to be scared, find something more scary.