WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW ORLEANS - Settlement agreements have resolved a Louisiana recording company's claims against two T-shirt vendors and a restaurant over merchandising rights to the phrase "Who Dat?" - a popular chant of New Orleans Saints fans.

The deals eliminate the need for a federal trial that had been scheduled to begin Monday.

Who Dat? Inc., which recorded a song in 1983 that used the cheer, accused Storyville Apparel, Monogram Express and Who Dat Yat Chat of violating its trademark of the phrase.

The T-shirt vendors and Who Dat Yat Chat, which plans to open a restaurant in Violet, argued that "Who Dat?" is a generic phrase that can't be trademarked.

Who Dat? Inc. and the NFL settled related claims against each in January.