One of the most famous football clubs in the world the UK Manchester United initiated lawsuits against SI and SEGA which are producers of the video game Football Manager.
The reason for this action was the fact that this video game includes the name of the club and a logo in red and white which although not similar to the original club’s emblem associate with it.
According to Manchester United, when consumers see the name of the football club they will recall about the original emblem. In addition, the video game providers allow using of patches through which gamers can use even the original club’s signs.
For the UK club, all of that ruin the opportunity for licensing revenues from the use of its intellectual property.
The lawyers of the SI and SEGA stated that the potential ban for using the club’s name will restrict the right to freedom of expression. What’s more, the club had no right to claim infringement because it had been aware for this use for years without doing anything. This means that Manchester United had acquiesced in the use of its name by the video game producers.
The court decision is expecting.
Source: UDL Intellectual Property – Christopher Banister, за Lexology.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PLANET 