Queens Attorney Challenges NFL Trademark Monopoly

QUEENS, N.Y. - May 15, 2025 - PRLog -- Kew Gardens attorney Todd C. Bank has brought an action in the federal Southern District of New York seeking to have the court confirm Bank's belief that he has the right to sell unlicensed NFL-logo-bearing t-shirts. "There are two reasons that, together, give me the right to sell the shirts," Bank said. "First, the NFL's trademarked logos are functional. Specifically, the primary purpose for which NFL fans buy merchandise with NFL logos is to express support for an NFL team. On the other hand, even though many fans know, and might even care, that the merchandise, and specifically the inclusion of an NFL logo on that merchandise, serves a trademark-law purpose in that it is licenced by the NFL, the trademark-law purpose is secondary to the primary purpose." As an example, Bank explained, "a Jets fan might, given the choice, prefer an NFL-licensed Jets t-shirt versus an otherwise-identical unlicensed shirt.  However, if all Jets t-shirts were unlicensed, it is highly unlikely that the fan would instead buy a Giants shirt because that shirt is licenced." The second reason, Bank said, is that "it would be difficult for me to compete in the NFL-fan market if I could only sell t-shirts that do not contain any NFL-trademarked content. The appeal of such t-shirts to NFL fans would be minimal. A Jets fan, for example, could buy a plain green t-shirt to show his support for the Jets, but the vast majority of purchases that are made to show support for a team contain NFL-trademarked content, such as the team's logo."

This is Bank's second try to have a judge declare that he has the right to sell unlicensed NFL-logo-bearing t-shirts. "The first time around, which occurred earlier this year" Bank explained, "I merely said that I wished to sell the shirts and other merchandise and that I would sell them if permitted by the court, but I didn't have any merchandise at the time. The NFL said that I was required to do more than just allege my intentions in order to have standing to bring my case; that is, in order to be a proper plaintiff. I therefore dropped that case and now I have the shirts and a website, https://www.fairgamemerch.com, that has been fully designed and whose commercial pages can be up and running in an instant; that is, the instant the court gives me the go-ahead. In the meantime, I'm using the website to document the litigation."