Rams Win Suit Against Cartoon Manufacturer

Rams Win Trademark Suit Against Cartoon Company

Appeals court victory comes despite Johnny Blastoff's earlier trademark application

St. Louis, August 28, 1999 -- It's bad enough when someone attempts to infringe on a protected trademark. But when one does so with little commercial success, it adds insult to injury.

In January 1995, the Los Angeles announced that the team intended to relocate to St. Louis. Shortly afterwards, both licensed and unlicensed vendors began selling merchandise bearing the name "St. Louis Rams". In fact, the next month, Johnny Blastoff, Inc. (a company in the business of creating and marketing fictional cartoon characters) filed a State of Wisconsin trademark application for the name of a fictional sports team…"the St. Louis Rams". That application predated the NFL's application (filed with the Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C.) by two months.

The football team and the NFL brought suit against Johnny Blastoff, Inc. for infringement. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled in favor of the team. It concluded that the use of the trademark and the fact that the public associated the trademark with the Rams NFL franchise meant that the defendants did acquire protectable rights in the mark "St. Louis Rams" prior to Johnny Blastoff. It was also interesting that Johnny Blastoff filed only a state trademark application; it is far more common to file under federal law.

The attempts to use a known mark are not surprising or novel. It literally happens every day. Due to the value of sports team logos and designs, trademark disputes have become a regular part of sports law. But what is interesting was Johnny Blastoff's success in marketing its "St. Louis Rams" products. To put in kindly, the firm did not make a splash. In fact, it managed to sell two T-shirts.

And in addition to his adverse court decision against the NFL and the Rams, the owner was arrested in 1997 for selling counterfeit St. Louis Rams T-shirts outside a stadium in Wisconsin.

I wonder how Johnny Blastoff, Inc. paid the legal fees.