Marching to Madness: Dual Use Trademarks after Illinois High School Association v. GTE Vantage

Authors

Jonathan Berger

Abstract

March is the month when the college basketball season draws to a close, and the insanity associated with the championship tournaments begins. In 1996, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that the term "March Madness" existed with dual-usage. This article argues that there was no need to create the concept of the "dual-use trademark" at all, and that the existing trademark-law framework was perfectly adequate for the task of adjudicating issues such as the one presented here. This article further contends that the potential perils of dualuse trademarks far outweigh any benefits that might spring from their existence.

Recommended Citation

Jonathan Berger, Marching to Madness: Dual Use Trademarks after Illinois High School Association v. GTE Vantage, 21 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. 785 (1999).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol21/iss4/4