Fox Sued Over Launch of ‘Counterfeit’ USFL by Former Owners
(Bloomberg) -- Fox Sports' planned launch of the USFL this year is being challenged by former owners of the original American football league who claim the network is using its trademarks without permission in what is a “counterfeit” league.
The Real USFL LLC, a company formed to protect the trademarks of the 1980s spring football league, sued Fox Sports Monday seeking injunctions to stop the network from using the name USFL and any of the original league's team names or logos.
“Fox has no claim to this legacy and no right to capitalize on the goodwill of the league,” the Real USFL said in its complaint, filed in federal court in Los Angeles. “Fox's USFL franchise is an unabashed counterfeit.”
The suit could create turmoil for Fox Sports, which plans to broadcast the first game of the inaugural season in conjunction with NBC on April 16. The league is set to start with eight teams, including the New Jersey General, Michigan Panthers and Birmingham Stallions, the same names used by the United States Football League that lasted from 1983 to 1986.
Fox claimed that the original USFL has been defunct for more than 30 years and abandoned its trademarks, after being approached by representatives of the original teams, according to the complaint.
Larry Csonka, former general manager of the USFL's Jacksonville Bulls and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, questions the assertion by Fox Sports that the league and its franchise brands have no value today.
“It boils down to this,” Csonka said. “If the USFL doesn't have any value, why did Fox want it?”
Csonka is acting as the initial manager of the ownership group bringing the lawsuit.
Fox didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Fox's lawyers also sent a letter on Dec. 23 to American Classics, a company that was selling original USFL merchandise, ordering it to stop and recall all the products, according to the complaint. The broadcaster accused American Classics of “unlawful conduct,” Real USFL said. American Classics agreed to stop to avoid litigation, according to the complaint.
The case is The Real USFL LLC v. Fox Sports Inc., 2:22-cv-01350, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California (Los Angeles).
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
