BleedGopher
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per Forbes:
March is on the minds of Northwestern University basketball players as they are fighting for their school's first ever NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament berth. Meanwhile, The Big Ten Conference, which Northwestern competes within, is also thinking about March a bit more based on the National Collegiate Athletic Association bringing forth a fight based in trademark law.
The NCAA has filed an opposition to The Big Ten Conference's use of "MARCH IS ON!" The NCAA claims that if the power conference is cleared to register the mark, then the Association will be damaged in its regular promotion of a wide range of goods and services in relation to March Madness and its annual Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments.
In fact, the NCAA references its continuous use of the "MARCH MADNESS" mark in commerce in an attempt to persuade the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that it should not register The Big Ten Conference's application for MARCH IS ON! Three distinct registrations for MARCH MADNESS are cited in the NCAA's filing.
"Opposer has offered/sold millions of dollars' worth of goods and services in connection with its MARCH MADNESS Mark," states the opposition. "Opposer has spent significant sums advertising and promoting its MARCH MADNESS Mark throughout the United States."
The NCAA is trying to prevent The Big Ten Conference from having a registration to use MARCH IS ON! in connection with promotional and financial sponsorship of the presentation of athletic events and contests, TV and streaming of sports programming, production and distribution of sports TV programs and providing online information in the field of sports, TV, video and audio entertainment.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenh...or-marching-on-trademark-rights/#417ef8c1d6ce
Go Gophers!!
March is on the minds of Northwestern University basketball players as they are fighting for their school's first ever NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament berth. Meanwhile, The Big Ten Conference, which Northwestern competes within, is also thinking about March a bit more based on the National Collegiate Athletic Association bringing forth a fight based in trademark law.
The NCAA has filed an opposition to The Big Ten Conference's use of "MARCH IS ON!" The NCAA claims that if the power conference is cleared to register the mark, then the Association will be damaged in its regular promotion of a wide range of goods and services in relation to March Madness and its annual Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments.
In fact, the NCAA references its continuous use of the "MARCH MADNESS" mark in commerce in an attempt to persuade the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that it should not register The Big Ten Conference's application for MARCH IS ON! Three distinct registrations for MARCH MADNESS are cited in the NCAA's filing.
"Opposer has offered/sold millions of dollars' worth of goods and services in connection with its MARCH MADNESS Mark," states the opposition. "Opposer has spent significant sums advertising and promoting its MARCH MADNESS Mark throughout the United States."
The NCAA is trying to prevent The Big Ten Conference from having a registration to use MARCH IS ON! in connection with promotional and financial sponsorship of the presentation of athletic events and contests, TV and streaming of sports programming, production and distribution of sports TV programs and providing online information in the field of sports, TV, video and audio entertainment.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenh...or-marching-on-trademark-rights/#417ef8c1d6ce
Go Gophers!!
