You may have heard back in 2006, when my Chicago Bears we playing the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl®, that the NFL told Fall Creek Baptist Church they were in violation of trademark laws for marketing a Super Bowl® party and charging for this party. This blog post on Fox News says…
NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek Baptist Church’s “Super Bowl Bash” on the church Web site last week (2006) and overnighted a letter to the pastor demanding the party be canceled, the church said.
Initially, the league objected to the church’s plan to charge a fee to attend and that the church used the license-protected words “Super Bowl” in its promotions.
Pastor John D. Newland said he told the NFL his church would not charge anyone and that it would drop the use of the forbidden words.
As I am sitting here planning my 2014 events calendar I thought to myself, “Can I have a Super Bowl® party or do I need to have a “Big Game Party?”
I am not sure what legal precautions I need to take so I do not infringe on the trademarked Super Bowl® or their intellectual rights. I found this video from a law office in Texas, don’t take these words as the absolute truth, but this may be all you need to know to make sure you and your church are above reproach:
Brandon / @iambrandonearly