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Can We Finally Attend a 'Super Bowl' Party Instead of a 'Big Game' Party?

By Bruce Carton

Most football fans or even just regular shoppers have probably noticed around this time each year that Super Bowl-themed sales (for TVs, pizzas, chips, whatever) are quite common. But most of the time, ads for these sales cryptically refer to the event in question as the "Big Game" or something other than what everyone knows it is. Why? As discussed in this post by Ken Basin on LawLawLand, the phrase ?Super Bowl? is trademarked by the NFL. The NFL allows its advertisers and partners to use the phrase in their marketing, but is "famously protective" when others try to use it, Basin writes. Basin argues that the NFL's legal position is flawed, however, and that your local church or bar should be allowed to host a "Super Bowl party" if it wants to under the ?nominative fair use? doctrine. In short, Basin writes, Courts recognize that it?s virtually impossible to refer to particular products or services without using protected trademarks ? how can I review the new Apple iPad without using the words ?Apple? or ?iPad?? That?s why the law allows the public to freely use a protected trademark nominatively, i.e., to describe the product or service underlying the mark,...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on February 05, 2011 (boomark / email).