Collingwood's refusal to wear alternative guernseys

[Coorong]

You will find they do. the grey area of course is a logo does not have to be registered to own it and can be correctly protected by simply always putting tm, after it. This will suffice for protection if someone else tries to imitate. But and a big but, you must be protective of your commercial property and initially advise by writing follwing up with legal action. Failure to do so will go in the other parties favour.

Mine is a very real case where I sought endorsement by the AFL but they advised they could not do that as it infringed on a sponsour product. They did tell me how to overcome the issue, simply be generic and dont use logo's or the registered figures ie: the opera house on the front of the swans jumper. We actually traded for 12+ months until Coca Cola "asked' the AFL to take us out.

Take us out allright, to the Federal Court. We are now going through the protracted proceedings and trying to shore up the $100,000 to defend.

No prob's if anyone wants to have a look at my sight, http://www.footyjuice.com

[am Bays]

The IP website - as Coorong pointed out - contradicts that quote, Start.

Tassie, if the AFL tried to stop Collingwood from doing that Collingwood can sue for breaching the Trade Practices Act. And win because (as stated again by the IP website per Coorong) the AFL does NOT own the club trademarks.

Well the draft is a restraint of trade in the strict sense of the law some might even say iunconstitutional as it promides a limitation to the trade be tween the states and the AFL get away with it.

I'm sure you'll find the AFL have had it checked out with the legal boffins when they instigated the club licenses which they gave to teh VFL clubs for nothing but made the interstaters pay...

Start I think you find the clubs have registerd colour codes for their colours i.e. each colour has several shades or hues each variation has its own unique code and they are registers with the AFL

[Hondo]

It's very difficult to trade-mark team colours and nick-names. The best you could do is register company and business names such as "Adelaide Crows Pty Ltd". You'd never be able to trademark a colour scheme or nick-name because, for example, so many clubs and teams across Australia would have black & white as their scheme or use the logo "Magpies".

[am Bays]

It's very difficult to trade-mark team colours and nick-names. The best you could do is register company and business names such as "Adelaide Crows Pty Ltd". You'd never be able to trademark a colour scheme or nick-name because, for example, so many clubs and teams across Australia would have black & white as their scheme or use the logo "Magpies".

Yes but their is only one Richmond Tigers playing in black and yellow with their particular guernsey. So If Richmond want to leave the AFL and play in the breakaway NFL for argument sake they can not call themsleves the Richmond Tigers and play in a black guernsey with a yellow sash.

They can call themselves something else such as the East Melbourne Tigers and play in a similar guernsey and colours but not the exact same design and colours.

This is links back to the Super League war in the mid 90s where the AFL insured itself against the threat of a break-away league / competition. In short the colours name, emblem and nickname all became registerd with the AFl as part of the licence agreements. Leave if you want but you can't call your self you current name and play in the style and colours of your current guernsey.

The leagues (SANFL, VFL and WAFL) first tightened up their trade marks in the 70s (see The South Australian Football Story 1983 p66) before that as Coorong pointed out anyone could produce merchandise and put club colours on it and type of mascot and flog it off with no $$$$ going to the SANFL or that club. Hence the club emblems and and colours we see now were registered as trademarks to maximise the sponsorship and marketing revenues of both the league bodies and the clubs.

FAst forward to the

[Coorong]

It's very difficult to trade-mark team colours and nick-names. The best you could do is register company and business names such as "Adelaide Crows Pty Ltd". You'd never be able to trademark a colour scheme or nick-name because, for example, so many clubs and teams across Australia would have black & white as their scheme or use the logo "Magpies".

Yes but their is only one Richmond Tigers playing in black and yellow with their particular guernsey. So If Richmond want to leave the AFL and play in the breakaway NFL for argument sake they can not call themsleves the Richmond Tigers and play in a black guernsey with a yellow sash.

They can call themselves something else such as the East Melbourne Tigers and play in a similar guernsey and colours but not the exact same design and colours.

This is links back to the Super League war in the mid 90s where the AFL insured itself against the threat of a break-away league / competition. In short the colours name, emblem and nickname all became registerd with the AFl as part of the licence agreements. Leave if you want but you can't call your self you current name and play in the style and colours of your current guernsey.

The leagues (SANFL, VFL and WAFL) first tightened up their trade marks in the 70s (see The South Australian Football Story 1983 p66) before that as Coorong pointed out anyone could produce merchandise and put club colours on it and type of mascot and flog it off with no $$$$ going to the SANFL or that club. Hence the club emblems and and colours we see now were registered as trademarks to maximise the sponsorship and marketing revenues of both the league bodies and the clubs.

FAst forward to the

Tassie, if indeed the sanfl colours or the afl colours are registered, can you point me to the registration site and registration numbers. I am serious and you have read my post above. I think that a lot of this supposed registration has NEVER happened for all leagues and some bluff and bravado is taking place by them over not being able to register them.

Well its going to cost me $100,000 and 100's of hours research to find out. Lose and I have not only lost my business, but a large junk of my life savings. And who wants to employ a 57 year old bankrupt.

It is all elementary really though and probably go down to the judge of the day. Did you know a Barrister has to represent you in the federal court in Vic. At $1,300 per hour (includes his research)

I would study law in my next life

C'mon Bloods this w/e I need some light relief

[am Bays]

Mate, to my knowledge the the registrations are kept by the AFL where it is kept publically I do not know. I assume the relevant departments of business in each state would have the various trade mark registrations pertinant to the logos of the clubs.

In a nutshell I would invisage you would have to go the gatekeeper (AFL) and ask them for the colours and logos registrations.

I can recall news reports in 1993 when some artist tried to recreate prints of Modra's mark in 93 agaisnt north melbourne. He made the mistake of including teh AFL logo on the shorts and guernsey. The AFl stopped the production of the prints.

Whether it was bluff and bravado I don't know. As I said in my earlier post I know the SANFL moved in the 70s to register and trademark the club colours and logos. Hence why on Ebay you can see a plethora of assorted stickers and merchandise with differing "Glenelg Tigers" from the 60s and early 70s.

You can create merchandise now, but to my knowledge can use the exact club logos and colours on that product.

[PhilG]

..

[Hondo]

http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/atmoss/falcon.application_start

This is the link to IP Australia which maintains a public database of TradeMarks and other intellectual property.

I only searched on the Crows but their logo is a registered trademark (number 545798), and the AFL are clearly the registered legal owners. I didn't search the other teams but they would all be the same.

Tassie is OTM - it's the combination of club name, club colours, club logo and logo design which creates something you can trade-mark. Not one of those things in isolation. The organising body must own all the trade-marks and IP in the logos otherwise how can it protect itself from other entities wanting to steal all the teams away. The AFL wouldn't be doing their job in running and protecting our game unless they had the IP stuff all stitched up.

[Hondo]

Does the SANFL own the SANFL clubs colours and logos ?

Yes, refer my later post giving a URL for IP Australia. I searched on Glenelg Tigers and the round logo with the leaping tiger and the words 'Tigers Glenelg Football Club' is a registered trade-mark (number 1054288) owned by the SANFL. The other teams would all the same.

[Dissident]

I would think that it's all agreements with the AFL that matters.

The Crows logo, jumper design, name etc etc would all be the property of the AFL.

If the Crows wanted to go it alone in another league, they could use the colours but NOT be called the Adelaide Crows and NOT use that jumper or logo etc.

[am Bays]

Yes but their is only one Richmond Tigers playing in black and yellow with their particular guernsey.

WRONG!

Richmond Tigers in the Old Scholars FA in Tasmania! I believe!

Yes but what logo do they use and what guernsey....

Is it THE Richmond logo?