Tumi: Ryan Lochte JEAH Communications Apparel | PHOTOS

by Samantha Randazzo | 2:51 pm, September 2nd, 2012

We were among the uninformed masses that believed Ryan Lochte invented the (really dumb) phrase ?JEAH!? until we were sent an intriguing press release via Twitter this morning. JEAH Communications, LLC, sent Lochte a cease and desist letter regarding his use of the phrase and in light of the recent announcement of Lochte?s fashion line. If that wasn?t funny enough, it gets better: JEAH already has a line of merchandise.

According to local newspaper the Oak Park-River Forest Patch, JEAH is a tiny web hosting company based outside of Milwaukee and in Oak Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. The company?tweeted at us this morning telling us to check out this press release regarding Lochte?s fashion line. Here is an excerpt from the release:

?Existing and former account holders and business partners wanted to be sure we knew US Olympic Swimmer Ryan Lochte was claiming to have created the term JEAH,? said JEAH Communications, LLC?s Managing Member, Chris Byrnes, in an interview with Oak Park-River Forest?s online newspaper, oakpark.patch.com. ?We?re assuring them that as holder of a Federal Trademark on the word ?JEAH? since 2002 and used in commerce since 1999, we are actively pursuing the matter and we intend on protecting our trademark from any infringement or dilution.??Byrnes and JEAH Communications, LLC sent a cease-and-desist letter to Ryan Lochte and his attorney.

Uh oh! What ever will Lochte do?! If he uses his favorite word, he?ll be slapped with a big ol? copyright infringement suit.

To make matters worse for Lochte,?JEAH is currently giving away free stuff on its Facebook page, all branded with the company?s logo, and it has an e-commerce site. That?s right, the company sells apparel. But it doesn?t sell just any apparel ? it sells THONGS and BOXERS and BABY BIBS and DOG T-SHIRTS among the usual corporate baseball caps and tumblers. This story is seriously the gift that keeps on giving. Honestly, we?re just shocked that more than one person wanted to use the word to make a profit, so we did a roundup of all the JEAH merchandise we could find and put it in the gallery below. We?re just left with one question: What stupid gimmick will Lochte be forced to come up with now that he can?t use his favorite utterance?