The term is a
registered trademark owned by
Pat Riley, the Lakers' head coach from 1981 to 1990. The original owner and assignor of the underlying THREE-PEAT "mark" was Bijan Khezri, former president of P.d.P. Paperon De Paperoni, a Delaware corporation. Khezri submitted in November 1988 a
trademark application for the use of
three-peat on shirts, jackets and hats. Around that time, the phrase was being used by members and fans of the
Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, of whom Pat Riley was the head coach, regarding the Lakers' quest that season to obtain what would have been a third successive NBA championship. According to Riley, it was Laker player
Byron Scott who cited the term in reference to the team's goal for that season. After Khezri assigned the trademark to Riley, it remained an entity of Riley's company Riles & Co.. In 1989, Riles & Co. successfully registered the trademark under U.S. Registration Number 1552980. The Lakers did not win a third consecutive NBA championship in
1989, but the
Chicago Bulls did in
1993, and Riles & Co. collected royalties from sports apparel makers who licensed the phrase for use on merchandise commemorating that accomplishment. Riles & Co. subsequently obtained additional registrations expanding the trademark to cover many other kinds of merchandise in addition to apparel. The company then went on to reap additional profits by again licensing the phrase to merchandisers when the Bulls again won three consecutive NBA championships from
1996 through
1998, as well as when the
New York Yankees won three straight
World Series championships from
1998 through
2000 and when the Lakers won three straight NBA championships from
2000 through
2002. It was the Lakers' second three-peat in franchise history and only their first since moving from Minneapolis. As of 2025, the Lakers are the last team of the four major American professional sports (NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA) to achieve a three-peat. Incidentally, Pat Riley was the head coach of the losing teams (New York Knicks in 1992 and 1993, Miami Heat in 1996 and 1997) that were eliminated by the Bulls during their 1991-93 and 1996-98 three-peats of NBA Championships.
Phil Jackson was the head coach of the Bulls for both of these three-peats, and serving in that same capacity for the Lakers when they achieved their second three-peat. While originating in the United States, the three-peat has been replicated all over the world across different sports. In recent times, Spanish
association football club
Real Madrid notably became the first club of the modern era to win three consecutive
UEFA Champions League titles (
2015–16,
2016–17 and
2017–18). The American Rugby club the
New England free jacks would become the first team to win three consecutive
MLR titles (
2023,
2024,
2025). They would also be the first North American team to complete a three peat since 2002. The trademark registration for
three-peat has been challenged over the years by those who argue that the term has become too generic in its usage for the trademark to continue to be applicable. However, such arguments have yet to succeed, with the registration continuing to be upheld by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office as recently as 2001, in the case of
Christopher Wade v. Riles & Co. This challenge documented the transfer of assignment from Khezri to Riles & Co., and upheld the validity of the trademark as originally conceived. In 2005, a group of individuals attempted to trademark the phrase
Three-Pete in anticipation of the (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt that year by the
2005 USC Trojans football team to win a third consecutive national championship. The change in spelling was a reference to the team's head coach
Pete Carroll. However, the Patent Office ruled that the change in spelling was not dissimilar enough from Riles & Co.'s
three-peat, and denied the registration. Later that year, USC fan Kyle Bunch began selling his own "Three-Pete" T-shirts. He discontinued sales once he was notified that he was infringing upon the Riles & Co. trademark. == Three-peats in North American leagues/championships ==