Tracking Northern District of Illinois IP Cases
Avnet, Inc. v. Motio, Inc.., No 12 C 2100, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 30, 2015) (Lefkow, J.).
Judge Lefkow granted defendant Motio’s motion to amend its answer and counterclaim adding counterclaims and an affirmative defense regarding inequitable conduct and related antitrust claims.
As an initial matter, while Fed. R. Civ. P. 15 requires…
Slep-Tone Enter. Corp. v. Teddy O’Brian’s, Inc., No. 14 C 3570, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Sep. 24, 2014) (Guzman, J.).
Judge Guzman granted in part plaintiff Slep-Tone’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss defendant’s declaratory judgment of trademark invalidity, cancellation, antitrust and related Lanham Act and state law claims in this trademark …
Blawg Review #174 is available at D. Todd Smith’s Texas Appellate Law Blog — click here to read it. Smith boldly went without a theme, but it is a great Review, even without a theme. Smith picks up on my coverage of the Seventh Circuit’s recent decision affirming the Northern District’s holding that the NFL is a single entity for IP licensing purposes, as well as related coverage at Sports Law Blog and Blawgletter.
…
Continue Reading Blawg Review #174
Am. Needle, Inc. v. New Orleans Louisiana Saints, No. 07-4006 (7th Cir. Aug. 18, 2008) (Kanne, J.).*
Judge Kanne, writing for a unanimous panel, affirmed Judge Moran’s opinions holding that the National Football League (“NFL”) acting through its NFL Properties entity was a single entity and, therefore, dismissing plaintiff American Needle’s Sherman Act antitrust claims — click here and here to read the Blog’s post on Judge Moran’s prior opinions in this case. For more than twenty years, NFL Properties licensed American Needle to use various NFL and NFL team trademarks on American Needle’s headwear. American Needle filed this suit after NFL Properties entered an exclusive, ten year license with Reebok, ending American Needle’s license rights. Plaintiff argued that the NFL teams collectively, as well as in concert with Reebok, violated the antitrust laws by acting together through NFL Properties to license their collective intellectual property rights exclusively to Reebok (American Needle argued that the NFL did not violate antitrust laws when it licensed to numerous parties, including American Needle, through NFL Properties).
The Seventh Circuit explained that sports leagues are difficult to classify because they display elements of a single entity, as well as elements of a joint venture made up of independent owners. The Seventh Circuit, therefore, determines whether a sports league is a single entity “one league at a time” and “one facet of a league at a time.” In this case, the NFL was a single entity because for the purpose of promoting its football product — because no one team can stage a game alone. It followed that if the NFL was a single entity for promoting football, it was also a single entity for promoting its product by selling NFL apparel. Additionally, the Court noted that the record established that the NFL teams had been acting as a single entity for IP licensing since 1963.
The opinion’s introductory paragraph is also worth discussing. It is very well crafted, engaging both legal and non-legal readers:
As the most successful and popular professional sports league in America today, the NFL needs little introduction. Indeed, the NFL has inspired countless hours of heated and in-depth discussion about the league’s 88 years of professional-football history, including its great players, championship teams, and memorable games. But the only discussion the NFL inspires here involves aspects of the league that are not as well known: the league’s corporate structure, and the nature of its relationships with its member teams and the entities charged with licensing those teams’ intellectual property.
For another perspective on the opinion, check out the WSJ Law Blog’s post
* Click here to read the Seventh Circuit’s opinion.
…
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Affirms: NFL is a Single Entity
Am. Needle, Inc. v. New Orleans, Louisiana Saints, No. 04 C 7806, 2007 WL 4766815 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 19, 2007) (Moran, Sen. J.).
Judge Moran dismissed plaintiff’s remaining antitrust monopolization claim against various NFL entities and the 32 NFL teams.* Despite the fact that the NFL teams were a single entity for licensing purposes,** the NFL team could still be liable for monopolization outside of coordinated licensing efforts . But the alleged monopolization – licensing of defendants’ trademarks – can be done at defendants’ whim without violating antitrust laws based on the NFL’s status as a single entity.
* Congrats to the New York Giants and Michigan Man Amani Toomer on a great Super Bowl victory.
** Click here for the post on that opinion in the Blog’s archives.
…
Continue Reading Coordinated IP Licensing by Singe Entity is Not an Actionable Monopolization
Am. Needle, Inc. v. New Orleans Louisiana Saints, __ F. Supp.2d __, 2007 WL 2042764 (N.D. Ill. Jul. 11, 2007) (Moran, J.).
Judge Moran granted defendants, the NFL, NFL Properties and each of the thirty two teams (collectively the “NFL”) as well as Reebok International, Ltd. (“Reebok”), summary judgment on plaintiff’s Sherman Act antitrust claims, finding that the NFL acts through NFL Properties as a single entity for IP licensing purposes. For more than twenty years, NFL Properties licensed plaintiff to use various trademarks on its headwear. Plaintiff filed this suit after NFL Properties entered an exclusive license with Reebok, ending plaintiff’s license rights. Plaintiff argued that the NFL teams collectively, as well as in concert with Reebok, violated the antitrust laws by acting together through NFL Properties to license their collective intellectual property rights exclusively to Reebok (plaintiff argued that the NFL did not violate antitrust laws when it licensed to numerous parties, including plaintiff, through NFL Properties). But the Court held that licensing coordination between the NFL and its teams was equivalent to coordination between a corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary. Because the Supreme Court treats corporations and their wholly-owned subsidiaries as single entities, there could be no conspiracy and no antitrust violation.
…
Continue Reading NFL is Single Entity for Sherman Act Purposes
Abbott Labs. v. Mylan Pharms., Inc., No. 05 C 6561, 2007 WL 625496 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 23, 2007) (Kendall, J.).
Judge Kendall denied plaintiff’s, Abbott, Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss defendant’s, Mylan, antitrust counterclaims. Mylan alleged that two Abbott employees submitted declarations and/or testimony stating the weight and structure of certain…
