Sport fan enthusiasts recognize and associate their favorite teams logo, and mascots with certain teams- this is what stands them out and makes them different from the other teams. Therefore, we need to protect this and not have trademark infringement. Trademarks protect words, names, sounds, colors, symbols, sports mascots utilized in commerce to distinguish goods and services from one business to another. (Morrow, 2010) An example of a popular mascot since 1947 is the Cleveland Indians mascot of the “Chief Wahoo.” Thus, when people infringe upon these, as reproducing a mascot on the Internet this is a trademark infringement.
Universities have been fighting trademark infringement costing schools millions of dollars in lost licensing fees-Miami University sued a bookstore for using its Redhawk trademarks in bookstore advertising material. (Morrow, 2010) I think that this is necessary to protect ones copyrighted works and material from being stolen without paying the rightful owner some money. If someone comes up with an idea that idea should be protected and the illegal profiting of ones goods should have harsh consequences.
There are now 200 Universities that are members of the coalition to advance the protection of sports logos, an organization founded in 1992 by the NCAA. There success has attributed to more than 2,300 arrests and $175 million in illegal merchandise.
In conclusion, this ultimately has to be stopped, the trademark infringement, so that the franchises and teams may profit from their merchandise; be recognized uniquely for their mascots, and to prevent other people from making unlicensed merchandise.
Reference: Morrow, Stephanie. (2010, July). Is your favorite sports team breaking the law?:trademark battles in sports. Retrieved from http://www.legalzoom.com/intellectual-property-rights/trademarks/is-your-favorite-team-breaking
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