PIHA Jerseys?

**HEO** · 06-16-2008, 03:52 PM

Is there a rule against wearing your PIHA jersey's outside of official PIHA sanctioned events... i.e pickup, tournaments, etc...?

**GROWL** · 06-16-2008, 05:09 PM

That all depends. There was a rule about it in the by-laws, but now that the season is over the rules can pretty much be thrown out the window.

**seanth123** · 06-16-2008, 07:37 PM

True, kind of.

If the owners of the team own the emblems/logos, they may have a patent/copyright in play. In order to utilize these uniforms you must get their approval 1st. A few parents/players of a local youth soccer team outside of Baltimore was taken to court by a franchise owner for wearing his team uniforms in a tournament not affiliated with his franchise in anyway. Because they failed to get his approval, the district courts ordered a settlement to the franchise, surrender of all uniforms, and warned to never violate copyrights again. My stepson was on the team, and it ended up costing me about $300 in fines, missing a day of work, and another $500 for the attorney.

Be careful with this, you may be venturing into a lawsuit.

**joisyan** · 06-17-2008, 06:39 AM

i'm not trying to start a bash-session here. but honestly, why would the league take any course of action for a team using jerseys with the 'PIHA' logo outside of the piha, when it doesnt even enforce it's own league rules?

**seanth123** · 06-17-2008, 09:11 AM

The concern is not the league, but the franchise owners themselves. Many have put many hours and money into their respective organizations. The logos and team names belong to them not the league. I know 3 owners in PIHA who have applied and been granted copyrights to their team names/logos. I suspect this was to protect themselves from the league taking over the teams after all of their hard work.

Out of respect (not to mention legal), I would say check with team owners first. Many will probably not care, but if you get the one that takes offense, the law is on his/her side.

**seanth123** · 06-17-2008, 09:53 AM

Sorry guys, my better half (who I am told is never wrong) informed me that this is not a copyright, but TRADEMARK issue (TM). Logos and names are (TM) not (C). I was fined for violation of (TM), $300 per instance. For me, it was easy, 1 day, 1 instance. For others on our team, major fines in some cases.

**InlineMBA** · 06-18-2008, 07:09 PM

I for one find it highly unlikely that a high percentage of PIHA team owners have taken the legal steps to legally register their team names and original team logos.

In order to have trademark infringement, one would have to infringe on the rights of a registered trademark.

Steve Inge - ROXBURY 8

**MBurke** · 06-18-2008, 08:02 PM

Originally Posted by InlineMBA

I for one find it highly unlikely that a high percentage of PIHA team owners have taken the legal steps to legally register their team names and original team logos.

In order to have trademark infringement, one would have to infringe on the rights of a registered trademark.

Steve Inge - ROXBURY 8

Contrary to popular belief, registration is not necessary to claim (or have a judgment made in favor of) infringement of a trade or service mark, but it helps.