Tasmanian Rugby Union is considering what action it can take to prevent the state's new NBL club adopting the moniker that its amateur team has carried for 20 years on a national stage.
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The NBL has just finished running a fan vote on the name of Tasmania's newest national team.
It has since trademarked five possible monikers including Jack Jumpers, based on the venomous ant found in the state.
But the usage of the Jack Jumpers name first appeared with the Tasmanian senior representative teams in the Australian Rugby Shield from 2000 until 2008, continuing on since the introduction of the National Rugby Championship division two in 2018.
Tasmania had sporadically been branded the Lions up until the demise of its Southern States carnival.
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TRU president Ebony Altimira recently learned that the union had no legal recourse against the NBL use of the Jack Jumpers name.
"It had come as a surprise. We always thought the name Jack Jumpers had been ours," Altimira said.
The belief that Tasmanian Rugby had owned the name was mistaken where instead it had been registered as its business name only, losing all exclusivity over it.
Altimira accepts there are two ways it can unfold: that the NBL club will be given a different nickname or it could have to share or surrender its rugby moniker.
The TRU has already been in contact with the NBL to check whether or not the two parties can come to a deal.
"We hope we can come to some sort of an arrangement and negotiate a deal over the name," Altimira said.
Part of that could include an agreement to remunerate the TRU to walk away from name clash.
The NBL was unable to be reached for comment.
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Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
