Tailgate Nation, Inc.

Tailgate Nation, Inc. — company profile

Tailgate Nation, Inc. was a small, privately held Missouri company associated with inventor Bradford J. Gleeson. USPTO trademark records list its correspondence address as 58 Whitehaven Ln, Saint Charles, Missouri (suburban St. Louis). It is not publicly traded, and no verified employee count, revenue figure, or parent-company ownership is available; the record indicates a micro-entity rather than a company with audited financials. A separate "Tailgate Nation, LLC" (Deerfield Beach, Florida, formed 2018, dissolved 2020) and a 2019 Chicago-based trademark applicant are unrelated later users of the same name and should not be conflated with this company.

Products / operations. The company marketed a tailgating novelty product, referred to in its 2008 complaint as the "Tailgate Nation Football Game" (described in related filings as a football toss/bolo-type game). It held U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,243,000 for "TAILGATE NATION" (filed 2005, first use 2004, registered 2007, covering publicity and sales-promotion services), which was cancelled under Section 8 in December 2013 for non-renewal — suggesting the business wound down. It was therefore a small operating/inventor-owned business, not an acquired-portfolio shell licensor.

Litigation posture. The tracked data show one case, with Tailgate Nation as plaintiff and no appearances as a defendant. That fits an individual-inventor-started enforcer: Tailgate Nation and Gleeson sued a broad group of retailers and brands for patent infringement (35 U.S.C. § 271), trademark infringement and counterfeiting, false advertising, Oregon Unfair Trade Practices Act violations, unfair competition, and breach of contract. Stanford's NPE Litigation Dataset classifies the lead case as "individual-inventor-started," a category that is not automatically a classic PAE.

Notable cases. Tailgate Nation, Inc. et al v. Top Marketing USA et al (D. Or. 6:08-cv-00167, filed Feb. 8, 2008; transferred to E.D. Mo. as 4:08-cv-01040, terminated Jan. 28, 2009) named Wild Sales, Top Marketing USA, Anheuser-Busch, Amazon.com, Toys "R" Us, G.I. Joe's, The Sports Authority, IMG, NFL Enterprises, and NFL Productions. Defendants Wild Sales filed mirror declaratory-judgment actions in the Southern District of Indiana (1:08-cv-00498) and the Eastern District of Missouri (4:08-cv-00771, May 29, 2008). The tracked venue, E.D. Mo., is not a traditionally plaintiff-friendly patent forum; the dispute centered on tailgating-toss games and "Tailgate Toss"/"Tailgate Nation" branding.