Joint Licensing by Sports Teams Not Illegal
September 25, 2008
Source: The New York Law Journal. Reprinted with permission.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that, in jointly licensing their logos, professional football teams acted as a single entity incapable of forming an agreement in restraint of trade while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided that a similar joint licensing arrangement for professional baseball teams was not an unreasonable restraint of trade and was appropriately judged under the rule of reason.