Posts Tagged: "national football league"

The Supreme Court ruled that the anti-disparagement clause in the Lanham Act violates the Free Speech Clause in the First Amendment. Matal v. Tam. As a result, the United States Patent and Trademark Office may no longer deny registration of a federal trademark application on the ground of disparagement. Several states, including Massachusetts and New Hampshire, have anti-disparagement trademark provisions that will no longer be enforceable either… The statute does not define ‘scandalous’, but like the restriction against disparaging marks, the courts and the PTO focus on whether a mark is offensive.

Lauren Emerson, Baker Botts, LLP: “Today’s decision, while not surprising, is momentous, as any decision striking a longstanding legislative provision based on freedom of speech would be.  From a trademark practitioner’s perspective, Matal v. Tam is also remarkable in that it is the second decision in just over two years in which the Supreme Court specifically has taken note of the importance and value of trademark registration.   The decision has drawn additional attention as it undoubtedly marks the end of Pro-Football, Inc. (“PFI”)’s longstanding battle over its REDSKINS marks, as 2(a) will no longer bar registration of those marks either.   I have little doubt that in the weeks and months to come, we will see many new filings that will be more challenging to celebrate than Simon Tam’s hard-won victory.”

On the menu this week for Other Barks & Bites… Video game systems developed by Nintendo and Sony are targeted in a patent infringement suit filed in Delaware federal court. The infamous scan-to-email patent giving rise to the patent troll debate has finally been invalidated at the Federal Circuit. A multi-billion dollar copyright suits between two American tech giants gets new life from Oracle. California’s state legislature moves to create trademark protections for marijuana products at the state level, circumventing federal restrictions on such trademarks. And Zillow gets hit with a copyright infringement verdict.

On December 6th, 2016, the USPTO registered U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5095619, which protects the use of the standard character mark “PERFECT SEASON” in commerce. One week later on December 13th, the USPTO registered U.S. Trademark Registration No. 5100521, which protects the use of the standard character mark “19-0” in commerce… And trademarks only exist so long as they remain in use, so to keep the 19-0 registration the Patriots will have to use it in commerce or risk it going abandoned. So it will be interesting to see how the Patriots continue to use 19-0, or if they continue to use 19-0.

Not only are these two young men rising NFL stars who look as though they will have very promising careers; they’re also intellectual property owners. An Associated Press report published last August identified both Dak and Zeke as among a growing group of young sports professionals who have applied for trademark registration of character marks involving their names or nicknames. Prescott is still currently in the process of obtaining a trademark from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for U.S. Trademark Serial No. 86467076. This application seeks to register a standard character mark for “DAK ATTACK” in two classes, trademark class 25 for clothing and trademark class 41 for education and entertainment services.

Misspellings, $20 for a $200 jersey, encouraging use of Western Union wire transfers, and no visible mention of being officially licensed NFL merchandise should raise at least some suspicions… Chinese production of counterfeit NFL jerseys and other sports apparel has also attracted the attention of domestic crime rings looking to make money from unsuspecting consumers, many of whom are purchasing a low-quality product compared to the officially licensed version.

On August 20th, the Oakland Raiders filed three trademark applications with the USPTO for standard character marks on “Las Vegas Raiders,” suggesting the team is very serious about relocating to Las Vegas in the near future. U.S. Trademark Application No. 87145341 would protect the use of Las Vegas Raiders on football helmets, downloadable software and electronic guides related to football, jewelry, trading cards and other souvenir items. U.S. Trademark Application No. 87145339 would protect the use of Las Vegas Raiders for the conducting of professional football games, football fan club services, sports and entertainment information provided via cable or satellite as well as live shows featuring football competitions. U.S. Trademark Application No. 87145331 would protect the use of Las Vegas Raiders on a variety of clothing items, including jerseys, caps, visors, earmuffs, T-shirts, sweaters, gloves and scarves.

The harder and more unbreakable the helmet the better it is to protect from a cosmetic standpoint, but the more likely the helmet will transfer the power of any blow through to the brain… Helmets today are reasonably good at protecting from blunt impact, but that does not mean they do not suffer from serious problems. “A major weakness in helmets is that they do not protect from any twisting or torsion motion, for example when a wearer suffers an impact that forces his neck to rotate at a substantial speed,” Abu-Taleb explains. “This is a major cause of concussions, as the brain rattles within the cerebrospinal fluid inside the skull as soon as the rotating comes to a stop, causing multiple potential points of impact between the brain and skull.”

Last Wednesday the Eastern District of Virginia issued its opinion and order on cross-motions for summary judgment in Pro-Football v. Blackhorse, the case in which the National Football League (NFL) appealed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (TTAB) precedential cancellation of the REDSKINS trademark on Lanham Act 2(a) disparagement grounds. The long and short of it is, it didn’t turn out well for the Redskins, who will almost certainly appeal the decision, which affirmed the TTAB’s 2014 cancellation.

As part of the settlement agreement, Seattle can use the number 12, and whatever rendition of 12 it wishes, so long as it sufficiently distinguishes whatever mark it comes up with from “12th MAN”. They can use “12th MAN” in advertising and promotional items provided proper notice is used but they may not, however, use “12th MAN” on merchandise, including the flag. Ever notice that the “12th Man Flag” at CenturyLink Field is just the number 12? Now you know why. The Seahawks can refer to it as the “12th Man” flag, but can’t put the word “man” anywhere near the number 12.