Broadcasters Should Be Careful Referencing Super Bowl, Lawyer Says

Advertisers need to be careful when running ads or promotions that refer to the NFL’s upcoming Super Bowl, said Wilkinson Barker trademark attorney Mitchell Stabbe in a blog post Tuesday. “The NFL’s rule book defines trademark violations very broadly,” said Stabbe. “If anyone were willing to throw the red flag to challenge the league’s position, a review from the booth might reverse some of those calls.” Though the NFL challenges almost any use of the term “Super Bowl,” some of those challenges are vulnerable to argument, Stabbe said. One example is local broadcasters that use the word Super Bowl in the title of a news program about the game, Stabbe said. “There is a strong argument that such naming constitutes permissible ‘nominative fair use,’” Stabbe said. The NFL also looks dimly on advertising that uses the term “Super Bowl,” or paid events or contests that use the trademark, Stabbe said. The league has a “huge incentive” to be so aggressive with trademark protection because its Super Bowl advertisers pay the league a great deal for exclusive sponsorship rights, Stabbe said. Uses of the trademark outside those agreements chip away at that exclusivity, he said. Broadcasters are better off not running the risk of litigation with the league, since they need the NFL to give them media credentials to cover the Super Bowl, Stabbe said.