|
Cowboys vs. Converse
|
 |
July 24, 1998: 2:54 p.m. ET
NFL, Cowboys fight sneaker maker over use of star logo on footwear
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The five-pointed star: It appears on everything from elementary-school quizzes to the American flag.
And the Dallas Cowboys, along with the National Football League, are fighting with Converse Inc. in court over the presence of the star logo on their respective footwear.
"The Cowboys have joined the NFL in this action. We will not be able to comment on specifics of the litigation other than to say we are standing side by side on the matter," Cowboys' owner and chief executive Jerry Jones said through a spokesman.
Team logo since 1960
At issue is the NFL's strategy to generate new streams of revenue through the marketing of an expanded line of team-logo apparel such as sneakers. The league entered into a license agreement with a Miami Beach, Fla.-based manufacturer, Foot-Tec Industries Inc.
In its lawsuit filed Thursday afternoon, Converse, the North Reading, Mass.-based athletic footwear company, contends the league's plan "is likely to cause and is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the general purchasing public."
Converse began using its own five-pointed star back in 1916, but didn't get trademark protection until 1962.
"As long as Converse makes footwear we will vigorously protect our exclusive rights to the five-pointed star," Converse Chairman Glenn N. Rupp said in a statement.
Converse's shining star
But the sneaker maker also said it doesn't want to block the Cowboy's use of the logo on anything other than athletic footwear. And Converse has played this game before -- and played it well.
In December 1996, a jury ruled in favor of Converse and prohibited Starter Corp. from using its star logo on footwear because it would infringe on Converse's trademark.
As an apparent pre-emptive strike, the Cowboys and the NFL on July 13 filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Northern District in Texas. The league, which plans to market Cowboys-logo footwear beginning this fall, wants a ruling that such merchandise won't infringe on Converse's trademark rights.
On Thursday, Converse filed its countersuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Yet at least one legal expert predicted that Converse has a difficult case to prove. "I don't see a likelihood of confusion. We're looking at the complaint. There may be something behind the scenes that we don't know," said Frank Colucci, a patent and trademark attorney at Colucci & Umans.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
