Tag Archives: False Endorsement

adidas sued for violating Jackie Robinson’s right of publicity

13 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by in Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Southern District of Indiana

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

This lawsuit involves adidas’ alleged infringement of the right of publicity of deceased baseball player Jackie Robinson.

The plaintiff, CMG Worldwide Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the exclusive worldwide agent and representative for the estate of Jackie Robinson.

adidas allegedly, without authorization from Plaintiff, created and promoted merchandise based on the 70th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s first appearance as a Brooklyn Dodger. The products were promoted heavily by adidas and sponsored athletes on April 15, 2017…”Jackie Robinson Day.”

Plaintiff asks for an injunction against further sales, recovery for damages suffered, disgorgment of all of adidas’ profits and attorneys’ fees and costs, so there’s a lot on the line for adidas. Stay tuned for updates.

CMG Worldwide, Inc. v. adidas AG et al.

Court Case Number: 1:17-cv-02356-TWP-DWL
File Date: Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Plaintiff: CMG Worldwide, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Theodore J. Minch of Sovich Minch, LLP
Defendant: adidas AG, adidas America, Inc.,  Does 1-10
Cause: False Endorsement, Unfair Competition, Violation of Right of Publicity, Common Law Unfair Competition, Unjust Enrichment, Deception
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Tanya Walton Pratt
Referred To: Debra McVicker Lynch

Complaint:

 

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – James Dean v. Twitter

10 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by in Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Social Media, Southern District of Indiana, Trademark

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 4.21.44 PMHere’s a potential Giant of a lawsuit.

Plaintiff, James Dean Inc., wants the @JamesDean Twitter handle. Somebody else has been using the Twitter handle since 2009 as a fan account for the Fairmount, Indiana-raised rebel movie icon. The @JamesDean account has more than 8,200 followers and has sent over 2,200 tweets. CMG Worldwide, the exclusive licensee of James Dean’s name and likeness, unable to convince Twitter to hand over the account, are now suing Twitter directly in federal court to force compliance. Twitter looks set to put up a full defense rather than subject themselves to an onslaught of username complaints.

Stay tuned for what will likely become a precedent-setting case for dead celebrity Twitter handles.

Court Case Number: 1:14-cv-00183-WTL-DML
File Date: Friday, February 07, 2014
Plaintiff: James Dean, Inc., John Doe, One, John Doe, Two, John Doe, Three, John Doe, Four
Plaintiff Counsel: Theodore J. Minch of Sovich Minch, LLP
Defendant: Twitter, Inc.
Cause: Trademark Infringement, False Endorsement, Indiana State Statutory Right of Publicity, Common Law Right of Publicity, Common Law Unfair Competition, Unjust Enrichment, Conversion, Deception, Indiana Crime Victims’ Act
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch

Indiana Trademark Litigation Update – Net Pro Trading Card Company, LLC v. Ace Authentic Sports memorabilia, LLC

11 Monday Oct 2010

Posted by in Intellectual Property

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Net Pro Trading Card Company, LLC v. Ace Authentic Sports memorabilia, LLC et al

Interesting case. Plaintiff Net Pro was apparently the first company to make tennis trading cards way back in 1991. Defendant also makes tennis trading cards. As part of a recent promo series, Defendant has been packaging its own cards along with older, more valuable cards of Plaintiff (e.g. a Plaintiff 2003 rookie card of Rafa Nadal, etc.) Plaintiff feels Defendant’s actions have damaged its ability to sell its own stock of older cards. Kind of a flea-market, “first sale,” nominative fair use case. Despite Plaintiff including such colorful claims as “Deception” the “Indiana Crime Victims’ Act,” I don’t think this case is an easy slam…it could definitely go 5 sets with the proper defense.

Court Case Number: 1:10-cv-01236-JMS-TAB
File Date: Thursday, September 30, 2010
Plaintiff: Net Pro Trading Card Company, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Theodore John Minch of Sovich Minch LLP
Defendant: Ace Authentic Sports memorabilia, LLC, John Reichel
Cause: Trademark Infringement, False Endorsement, False Advertising, Common Law Unfair Competition, Unjust Enrichment, Conversion, Deception, Indiana Crime Victims’ Act
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Tim A. Baker