I would like to use NFL logo colors and city name ONLY for a product for resale. Is this legal?

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This would be a little trinket for sale that would have the colors of the team, such as Bears orange, navy blue and white, or Green Bay's green, yellow and white, and the city name printed on it.

Attorney Answers

3
Judy Goldstein ·
You asked the same question twice. I missed that you wanted to put in the city. That could be a problem. You would be best off speaking directly to a IP/trademark attorney to confirm.
0 upvotes
Pamela KoslynBusiness AttorneyLos Angeles, CA ·
USing the "trade dress" of an NFL team will get you sued. City names (and countries, counties, and states) are available for anyone to use. Colors are also available for anyone to use. Where you get into trouble is using a combination similar to the "trade dress" of what some sports team uses and owns and would presumably protect. Do a search here in for "trade dress" and "team." Lots of people ask about some magic formula that they think exists that will enable them to trade just enough on a sports team's "trade dress" to get their fans to buy their products, but will be just different enough to not get them sued. What if they use only the name, in a different font. What if they use the colors but no name. What if they use a different version of the team mascot. Etc., etc. etc. And we lawyers always answer the same way. IT DEPENDS. What the team probably owns and will protect as their trademarks in the classes for entertainment services, clothing, toys, etc., is the team name, plus the colors. They also own the trade dress: the particular configuration of colors (plus their team name and logo using its font in the same size and placement as where their uniforms place it, etc. etc.) that acquired "secondary meaning" in the minds of consumers. That's what makes the trade dress valuable, and perhaps that's why you want to use one or more of their colors. You're free to use any city name and colors you want for any purpose, BUT just not in a way that recalls the products of any rightsholder and confuses their consumers so that people buy your products under the mistaken that they're the offical products of the team. The answer to trademark infringement questions is almost never YES or NO, it's almost always: DOES YOUR INTENDED USE CAUSE CONSUMER CONFUSION? The bottom line is, if your use calls to mind some other user because your use is similar enough to their use and might confuse some buyers, chances are good that it's an infringement. Consult an IP lawyer to run your intended use by them before you market anything.
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Bruce Burdick ·
I already gave you a detailed NO and why when you asked about just colors. Adding the city will assure you get stopped. The NFL will not let you score points against them in this way. They will eat your lunch if you try this.
0 upvotes