It’s that time of year again when the biggest event in professional football triggers all sorts of questions from broadcasters and advertisers about how that event may be mentioned in broadcast programming. You guessed it: I’m talking about the Super Bowl. Most people have undoubtedly heard the Super Bowl referred to as “the Big Game” … Continue Reading
The matchup for the National Football League’s championship game, aka the “Super Bowl”, is set. The Los Angeles Rams will face the New England Patriots on Sunday, February 3 in Atlanta in a game that will be hard pressed to exceed either conference championship game in terms of excitement or controversy. Each of the NFC Championship, … Continue Reading
While many outside the nation’s capital were engrossed in this weekend’s football games, those inside the beltway were engrossed in their own local sport: politics (especially because D.C.’s team – who shall remain nameless even as that name may be trademarked – hasn’t played for the Lombardi trophy in 26 years). Specifically, “Shutdown” was THE … Continue Reading
(Our Annual Reminder to be careful how you use “Super Bowl”® and other NFL trademarks) If I had my way, I’d probably never write on this topic again. Every year I rack my brain for a hook to help re-remind readers about the dangers of using the term “Super Bowl”® – and any “Super Bowl”®-related … Continue Reading
The biggest scandal this time of the year tends to be the NFL's heavy-handed efforts to protect trademarks, even those it doesn't own.… Continue Reading
It's time for that most evergreen of January stories: the annual reminder that you have to be careful about using the words "super" and "bowl" together in any way.… Continue Reading
The list of sports-related image rights litigants is extensive. Is it possible that this genre of lawsuit has finally run its course? Apparently not.… Continue Reading
Ed O'Bannon! Craig Newsome! Sam Keller! Where are they now - litigation-wise? Catch up on the latest exploits of these college-athletes-turned-litigants as they struggle for control of the rights to their own images.… Continue Reading
In case you didn't take our recent alert about the Invasion of the Trademark Enforcers seriously, the NFL has kindly illustrated our point . . . again.… Continue Reading
A Federal District Judge in California has rejected a Lanham Act claim by former NFL great Jim Brown, who alleged that EA Sports falsely implied that he endorsed Madden NFL games.… Continue Reading
The burgeoning field of litigation involving the use of athletes' images, personal information and statistics by fantasy sports, video games and other marketing endeavors continues to burgeon with the recent suit filed by several former NFL starts against the NFL itself. Don't bother to stay tuned for film at 11 - read on!… Continue Reading
A couple of recent court cases touch on issues we've discussed recently regarding the licensing of image and other trademark-type rights claimed to be held by athletes and sports leagues.… Continue Reading
Yahoo! has followed up CBS Interactive's victory over the NFL, the NFL Players Association and their licensing arm, Players, Inc., that allowed free use of pro football player likenessses by fantasy sports operators with a suit of its own -- in the same court, of course.… Continue Reading
A lawsuit filed on May 5 in federal district court in Northern California by a former college football quarterback is the latest extension of a series of cases that have defined who "owns" sports statistics, facts and personal image rights.… Continue Reading
