Renowned Chicago-based historian Shermann "Dilla" Thomas is facing a $20k legal battle for using the word "dope" in his signature slogan.
The word “dope” is one of those phrases with multiple meanings; it can define something as good, bad or even illegal depending on the manner you use it in. For beloved Chicago-based historian Shermann “Dilla” Thomas, the word was utilized in a positive context to reflect how he feels about his home state with the trademarked slogan, “Everything Dope About America Comes From Chicago.”
Innocent enough, right? Well, not according to Swedish ski company Dope Snow, who decided to challenge his trademark use of the word “dope” in a current legal battle that Thomas says will cost him roughly $20,000 to fight.
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According to a detailed report by Block Club Chicago, Thomas alongside his attorney India Rios initially chose to trademark the slogan back in May 2025 after gaining consistent traction on social media due to educating his followers on historic facts about Ch-Town during the 2020 pandemic. His movement even caught the attention of BBC earlier this summer in a feature that elevated things to even bigger heights. However, affiliates of Dope Snow fired back in April 2026 with claims that his use of “dope” actually infringes on the marks they registered for back in 2020. Ironically enough, it appears Thomas isn’t the only one in their sights to sue; the snow, ski and outdoor wear retailer currently has 70 pending oppositions to other trademark uses of the word “dope.” On the first page alone, we spotted “DopeSoul,” “Dope-Tastic” and “Dope Curvy Chick” amongst many, many others.
More details below on this anything-but-dope legal dispute, via Block Club Chicago:
“The company claims that Thomas’ slogan, ‘Everything Dope About America Comes From Chicago,’ will ‘dilute’ their registered marks, but ‘in order to have a successful dilution claim, you have to have a world famous mark’ — like Coca-Cola or Nike, Rios said.
‘Most people have never heard of Dope Snow,’ Rios said.
The company is entitled to make their claims — policing a mark and brand is expected because ‘once you have it, it’s on you to enforce it,’ Rios said.
But sending a cease and desist and attempting to stop other people should really only be done if marks are truly confusingly similar, Rios said. In Thomas’ situation, that’s not the case, she said.
‘When you take the two marks as a whole and you compare them against each other, they’re not the same,’ Rios said. ‘It’s just the fact that his mark includes the word ‘dope.’ It’s almost like they’re trying to say that they have a monopoly on the word in regards to clothing and no one can use the word for clothing.’”
Thomas himself has been honest about the financial burden this puts on him, estimating it will cost him around $20,000 just to fight the opposition in court if he doesn’t want to lose the mark completely. Dope Snow at one point sought to work out a coexistence agreement, however the terms would require Thomas to drop Trademark Class 25 — this covers human clothing, footwear and headgear — which would put the brand at risk of others selling their own merchandise with the “Everything Dope About America Comes From Chicago” slogan.
Rios, who predicts the matter will take two years to settle, plans to prove how generic the use of “dope” is by utilizing the Polaroid Factors, an eight-part legal test used by courts to determine the “likelihood of consumer confusion” between two trademarks.
Let’s hope that for the sake of Dilla and the greater good of Chicago, this matter comes to a dope conclusion on his behalf.
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