Business and Tax Lawyer Blog

Joe Frazier, the former heavyweight boxing champion, tried unsuccessfully to sue the Oneida Indian tribe in Federal Court for using his picture without permission. The picture was used to promote a boxing match between Frazier's daughter and Muhammad Ali's daughter at the Oneida-owned Turning Stone Casino. The former heavyweight champion objected to the use of his picture in a way that promoted commercial gambling. The 2nd US Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that it had no jurisdiction in the case because of the tribe's sovereign status. To pursue the matter further, Frazier will have to sue the casino owners in an Oneida run court.

Tribal sovereignty is a complex legal issue. While congress recognizes that tribes have an inherent right to govern themselves, congress can limit that sovereignty. For example, tribal jurisdiction over their own residents had been well-established, but jurisdiction in matters between tribal and non-tribal persons is less clear cut. If your business is being affected by a legal matter, please contact Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A. for legal counsel.

You can find out more information about this case at: Court in NY: Joe Frazier can't sue tribe here.

Recently, The North Face Apparel Corp. initiated a trademark infringement claim against The South Butt, LLC. The North Face is an international clothing and outdoor equipment company. The South Butt is based in Missouri and also markets a number of T-shirts and a jacket displaying the logo, which resembles that of The North Face because both marks use a similar font and display a similar "rainbow graphic." However, the graphic in the South Butt mark is rotated 180 degrees to appear upside down and is positioned to the left of the name instead of the right, as it is with The North Face. South Face has also adopted the slogan "Never stop relaxing," which may be found similar to The North Face's slogan, "Never stop exploring."

The company's founder is a student at the University of Missouri and is said to have created South Butt as a parody of "all the people who mindlessly wear North Face gear because everyone else they know wears it." South Butt clothing is sold exclusively at a local pharmacy in Missouri.

In its Complaint, The North Face alleged that the South Butt mark is confusingly similar to its own mark and that the company has taken advantage of The North Face's reputation and consumer good-will in selling merchandise with the similar mark. South Butt maintains its products are not affiliated with The North Face.

To succeed in a claim of trademark infringement, The North Face will have to show the South Butt mark confused consumers about the source of the products' origin. So far the case does not look good for South Face because a Federal District Judge stated he "did not find it implausible that the marks cannot cause a likelihood of confusion," and denied the defendant's motion to dismiss.

Two years ago, the managing partner of my law firm bought me my first set of golf clubs, had them personalized for me, and hooked me up with private lessons. Little did he know: he created a monster.

It doesn't take a golf fanatic to appreciate that Tiger Woods could very well be the greatest golfer in history. But it's not just his game on the course that makes him a multi-millionaire--"Tiger Woods" as a brand name is worth millions in endorsing goods and services.

The name, "Tiger Woods," as a trademark, has been used since 1997 to identify golf gear and athletic apparel (Reg. #2306354). But that's just the beginning of the list of trademarks in Tiger's name; here's more:

- his autograph

Let's say you want to start a chain of restaurants in Florida using NBA star Dwyane Wade's name as the name your restaurant, and at times, Wade will make personal appearances at the restaurant. Sounds like a great idea for a start-up restaurant to generate a lot of business, especially, considering the fact that for two years straight Dwyane Wade's jersey has been number one in sales of all NBA players.

We all get ideas at times that we think are sure to generate big profits, unfortunately in the business world we know those great ideas can sometimes end up only generating big losses. That appears to be the case with two investors, Richard von Houtman and Mark Rodberg, who entered into a contract to start D Wade's Place, a sports themed restaurant bearing the name of its superstar endorser. Both investors are now involved in a lawsuit filed against Wade. In return, Wade has filed a counterclaim against von Houtman and Rodberg and a libel lawsuit against von Houtman seeking $100 million in damages. Currently, the case is in mediation to see if it can be settled.

Oftentimes, persons entering business partnerships plan for splitting profits and job responsibilities but, fail to plan for what happens if the business results in losses. If your thinking about entering a business partnership, make sure you develop a plan that takes into account potential adverse results to the business and partnership. If you have questions regarding the potential risks you should take into consideration, send me an e-mail.