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National Football League Properties, Inc. v. Dallas Cowboys Football Club, Ltd.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

922 F. Supp. 849 (1996)

Facts

The National Football League (NFL) was an association of 30 football clubs, including the Dallas Cowboys Football Club, Ltd. (the Cowboys club), which operated the Dallas Cowboys team. When the NFL was originally formed, each club transferred the exclusive right to use the club’s trademarks (club marks) and the NFL’s trademarks (“NFL marks”), including each club’s and the NFL’s name and logo, to a trust, which granted National Football League Properties, Inc. (NFL Properties) (plaintiff) the exclusive right to license the club marks and NFL marks on all manner of merchandise and advertisements. NFL Properties sued the Cowboys club, its owner Jerral Jones, and an entity controlled by Jones, Texas Stadium Corporation (collectively, the Cowboys parties) (defendants) asserting nine causes of action, including breach of contract, Lanham Act violations, misappropriation of revenue, and tortious interference. The complaint alleged that the Cowboys parties had infringed NFL Properties’ rights to the club marks and NFL marks. For instance, Texas Stadium entered a contract with American Express (AmEx) allowing AmEx to use a star that was similar in appearance to the Dallas Cowboys “star.” Further, the Cowboys parties sent a solicitation to Dr. Pepper that included the “star” logo and the NFL’s “shield” logo. The complaint further alleged that the Cowboys club and Jones had publicly engaged in conduct that created the impression that third-party companies were sponsors of the team or the NFL. The Cowboys parties filed a motion to dismiss the complaint.

Rule of Law

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Holding and Reasoning (Scheindlin, J.)

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