National Basketball Association v. Motorola, Inc.

105 F.3d 841 (1997)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

National Basketball Association v. Motorola, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
105 F.3d 841 (1997)

Play video

Facts

Developed by Motorola (defendant), SportsTrax was a handheld pager that displayed updated statistical information from professional sporting events. Sports Team Analysis and Tracking Systems (STATS) (defendant) supplied the game data information that was transmitted from SportsTrax. Major League Baseball granted a license to Motorola and STATS to transmit updated data from baseball games in progress. In 1994, Motorola and STATS wanted to expand into the professional basketball market. However, talks with the National Basketball Association (NBA) (plaintiff) did not materialize and, instead, Motorola and STATS decided to generate and transmit NBA statistics by themselves and without a license from the league. After the SportsTrax devices began transmitting NBA game data for the 1995-96 season, the NBA brought suit against Motorola and STATS (collectively “defendants”) alleging violations of a host of federal copyright and trademark laws, as well as New York’s misappropriation law. The district court found for the NBA and enjoined the defendants from transmitting statistical data related to NBA games. The defendants appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Winter, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 815,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership