Pirone v. MacMillian, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
894 F.2d 579 (1990)
- Written by Steven Pacht, JD
Facts
Dorothy Ruth Pirone and Julia Ruth Stevens (plaintiffs) were the daughters of major-league baseball’s legendary Babe Ruth. Ruth was extremely well-known and was one of the most photographed men of his time. After Ruth’s death, Pirone and Stevens registered trademarks for “Babe Ruth” for paper articles, such as playing cards and writing paper. The daughters licensed their trademark to the amateur-baseball Babe Ruth League, Inc. (league) (plaintiff) to promote the league and sell products with the Babe Ruth name and to Curtis Management Group, Inc. (Curtis) (plaintiff) to license the mark in exchange for royalties. MacMillian, Inc. (MacMillian) (defendant) published a baseball-themed calendar, which included three Ruth-related photographs. The first showed Ruth helping a small boy with his batting grip. The second showed Ruth saluting General John Pershing. The third showed a baseball autographed by Ruth. Pirone, Stevens, the league, and Curtis (collectively, the mark holders) sued MacMillian, alleging, among other things, trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of the Lanham Act. The district court granted summary judgment to MacMillian. The mark holders appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kaufman, J.)
What to do next…
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.