Are you caught up in the “March Madness” hype? Silently yelling at the computer monitor during work hours? Well, if you’re hosting a
Source: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live
“March Madness” party to watch the “Final Four”, or maybe you own a local bar and are advertising “Elite Eight” drink specials, you’ll need to read this first.
The NCAA owns the federal registrations for “March Madness”, “Final Four”, “Elite Eight”, and yes, even “NCAA Sweet Sixteen”. This means that not only do they own the exclusive right to use those terms for commercial gain but it also means they can sue other people or businesses who use the terms without permission.
Hundreds of cease-and-desist letters are sent out each year by the NCAA’s intellectual property lawyers. These letters go to retailers, bars, restaurants, and any business looking to profit on branding their latest promotion with the “March Madness” nickname. These letters are aimed at not only stopping the illegal use of the NCAA’s protected trademarks but also protecting the value for the sponsors who are affiliated with the NCAA brand.
Thinking about being tricky and marketing your latest “March Mania” sales? Think again. The NCAA’s legal rights as the trademark owner can assert that ‘mania’ is too close of a synonym to ‘madness’ and not only send you a nasty letter but they can also sue you for trademark infringement and/or dilution.
I know you’re thinking it’s nasty business to tell people what they can and cannot say to promote their businesses, but in fact, as legal owners of any trademark will tell you, the NCAA has an obligation to police their trademarks. In fact, trademark enforcement (or “policing”) is necessary if a trademark owner wishes to maintain ownership of their trademark registration with the USPTO, not to mention preserving the brand’s value and exclusivity.
At Madan Law PLLC, we are happy to help our clients with not only establishing ownership of a trademark but also with regular policing of their trademarks to determine whether their marks are being used by others without permission. And if there is any unauthorized use, then we can in turn send out the nasty letters and bring it to a stop.