NYC Seeks New Identity

Forget "The Big Apple." New York now wants to be known as "The World's Second Home."

The city has filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the slogan, "The World's Second Home," giving the city exclusive rights to use it to promote business and tourism in New York.

The phrase is likely to come up often as New York makes its push for the 2012 Olympics.

If application No. 78484751 is accepted, the city would have exclusive rights to attach the phrase to a list of more than 200 products and services, including sunglasses, temporary tattoos, beach sandals, and film productions, according to a report in Thursday's edition of the New York Times.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a self-made billionaire, has been much more aggressive about filing for city trademarks and patents than his predecessors were. His company, Bloomberg, L.P., owns dozens of trademarks and patents.

The city has filed several trademark applications since September as part of a plan to secure slogans and logos for licensing purposes, including the phrase "Made in NY," and a Taxi and Limousine Commission badge for toy cars.