abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
In 1994, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York enjoined Sprint Communications (Sprint) from issuing cards bearing the World Cup mark. In March 1991, the International Soccer League (ISL) entered into an agreement with Mastercard International (Mastercard) which allowed Mastercard to be an official sponsor of the 1994 World Cup.
The sponsorship agreement granted Mastercard the exclusive right to use the World Cup'94 trademarks on "All card-based payment and account access devices."
Subsequently, in May 1992, Sprint entered into an agreement to become an Official Partner of the 1994 World Cup. This agreement was restrictive and expressly limited Official Partners' rights to not "infringe upon the rights of Official Sponsors." Sprint interpreted its Official Partner status to permit the issuance of 100,000 telephone cards bearing the World Cup mark.
The district court addressed the issue of contract interpretation, not parasitic marketing.
The court held that the Sprint cards fell under the definition of card-based payment and account access devices and prohibited Sprint from using the World Cup logo. Furthermore, the court determined that "extrinsic evidence demonstrated that both Mastercard and ISL intended that Mastercard should have the exclusive right to use the World Cup marks for telephone calling cards."
Time Warner Sports Merchandising, the company that licensed official products for the World Cup, took legal action against more than 105 manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers to prevent the sale of counterfeit products. Numerous stories exist detailing the problem of counterfeit goods making their way into the United States, including soccer ball decorations in a New York deli and sweatshirts in Miami. These examples are legally actionable because many of the products are copies of protected trademarks.
The sponsorship agreement granted Mastercard the exclusive right to use the World Cup'94 trademarks on "All card-based payment and account access devices."
Subsequently, in May 1992, Sprint entered into an agreement to become an Official Partner of the 1994 World Cup. This agreement was restrictive and expressly limited Official Partners' rights to not "infringe upon the rights of Official Sponsors." Sprint interpreted its Official Partner status to permit the issuance of 100,000 telephone cards bearing the World Cup mark.
The district court addressed the issue of contract interpretation, not parasitic marketing.
The court held that the Sprint cards fell under the definition of card-based payment and account access devices and prohibited Sprint from using the World Cup logo. Furthermore, the court determined that "extrinsic evidence demonstrated that both Mastercard and ISL intended that Mastercard should have the exclusive right to use the World Cup marks for telephone calling cards."
Time Warner Sports Merchandising, the company that licensed official products for the World Cup, took legal action against more than 105 manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers to prevent the sale of counterfeit products. Numerous stories exist detailing the problem of counterfeit goods making their way into the United States, including soccer ball decorations in a New York deli and sweatshirts in Miami. These examples are legally actionable because many of the products are copies of protected trademarks.
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