Nike: Just don't do it

DETROIT, June 9 (UPI) -- A Michigan man who uses a "Just Nail It" theme to raise money for charities has gotten a letter from the Nike telling him to just drop it.

On May 28 the giant shoe company demanded Ralph Roberts of Warren, Mich., withdraw his application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark "Just Nail It."

It all started last year when Roberts bought an 11-foot nail pulled from a mammoth tire along Interstate 94, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday.

Roberts uses the piece to raise money for charity and as a tailgating mascot before Tigers, Lions and Pistons games.

"I sell houses," Roberts said. "I'm not going to start selling tennis shoes."

In February Roberts applied to trademark "Just Nail It," "Nail It" and "Nail Gear," having used all three slogans since October on T-shirts and hats. Roberts said he got the idea for "Just Nail It" during a Chippewa Valley High School basketball game in Clinton Township, when the crowd started chanting the phrase.

Since 1989 Nike has used the "Just Do It" slogan to sell shoes, clothes and other things.