Cashing In On A Civic Symbol

There's been an almost Trappist period of silence at Liverpool Football Club since last month's enquiries about the possibility of trademarking the city of Liverpool's symbol, the Liver Bird (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/19/liverpool-premierleague ).
The club has already trademarked "This Is Anfield" & "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Even at the time, someone within the Anfield hierarchy realised the negative PR the affair would bring & rowed back frantically: "The club will not, it claims, prevent other legitimate organisations from using the Liver bird logo."
However, the plain reason for the club's move was spelt out later on in Andy Hunter's piece:
"Liverpool's application includes a range of Liver bird usage, including on clothing, stationery and even kitchen utensils. 'The Liver bird is part and parcel of the city, and we are not remotely going anywhere near that,' insisted a club spokesman. 'What we are asking to do is to register our version of the Liver bird.' "
Methinks they doth protest too much. The Liver Bird symbol is primarily a civic one, relating to the city itself, not to a private organisation seeking to maximise revenue. If anything, the club should be obliged to secure the city council's permission to use the logo.