February 24, 2020 Advertising / Concussions / Fraud / Litigation

False or Frivolous? The Court Will Decide Whether Concussion Testing Company’s Claims are Valid

ImPACT Applications, Inc. filed suit on October 29, 2019 against its competitor, Concussion Management, LLC f/k/a XLNTbrain, LLC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. In its complaint, ImPACT alleges that XLNTbrain falsely advertised its products and services in violation of the Lanham Act. In addition, ImPACT alleges that XLNTbrain engaged in unfair competition practices.

Both companies market concussion assessment and management testing products with companion software. While both companies sell similar products, there are some notable differences. For one, ImPACT is …

July 13, 2018 Basketball / Litigation / NCAA

Update: University of Maryland Basketball Subpoenaed in NCAA Corruption/Bribery Case

On July 6, 2018, the University of Maryland Men’s Basketball team responded to Federal Grand Jury subpoenas requesting records in the NCAA Corruption/Bribery Case. Specifically, the Grand Jury asked Maryland for records regarding an unidentified former player, assistant coach Orlando “Bino” Ranson, and Silvio De Sousa, a recruit who ultimately attended the University of Kansas. After responding to the subpoenas, Maryland made a public statement that read, “[t]he University has cooperated and will continue to cooperate fully with the ongoing federal investigation.”

As we have …

March 22, 2018 Sports Betting

Maryland Moves to Legalize Sports Betting

On March 15, 2018, the lower chamber of the Maryland State Legislature, the House of Delegates, passed legislation that could legalize sports betting in Maryland. An overwhelming number of state legislatures, 124 to 14, voted to pass bill HB1014. HB1014 will now move onto the upper chamber of the Maryland State Legislature, the Maryland State Senate, specifically the Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee. If HB1014 passes the Maryland State Senate, it then becomes subject to a voter referendum.

Supporters of HB1014 say sports gambling …

December 19, 2017 Baseball / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

More Ripken Baseball Camps Added to Complaint in Patent Infringement Fight

A Maryland federal court on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, granted Zito LLC, a company suing Cal Ripken Jr.’s baseball camps, a chance to amend its complaint against the retired player’s camps over patent infringement, finding that adding four more Ripken-owned camps would not prejudice the company. The Ripken camps had argued that the amendment would be made in bad faith because they allege the additional parties are unrelated and the additions were made as a work-around for an inability to change the theory of infringement. …

June 29, 2017 Concussions / NFL

Fourth Circuit Says NFL Retirement Plan Wrongfully Denied Request for Higher Benefits

On Friday, June 23, 2017, the Fourth Circuit affirmed a Maryland District Court’s 2016 ruling that the National Football League’s Retirement Plan wrongfully denied a request by former NFL linebacker Jesse Solomon for a higher level of benefits. Solomon sought a higher level of benefits as a result of cognitive impairments he has suffered due to head injuries sustained while playing nine years in the NFL. As a result of the affirmation that the Retirement Plan “abused its discretion” in Solomon’s case, the NFL will …

January 12, 2017 Fantasy Sports / Legislation

Maryland Adopts Daily Fantasy Sports Regulations

Maryland’s fashionably late adoption of daily fantasy sports regulations went into effect on January 2, 2017, providing several consumer safeguards in the industry. State regulations surrounding the industry came flooding in after fantasy sport kingpins DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Inc. faced a number of class action suits in 2015. Maryland’s regulations appear much less restrictive than most, however, in that they do not require operators to shell out a high registration fee (Virginia requires a whopping $50,000), and they set its minimum age at 18 …

How Close is Too Close? Under Armour Sues Over Alleged Trademark Infringement

Apparel giant Under Armour filed a lawsuit against Moonstone LLC, Titan Industries Inc., Internatonal Fashion Royalty Inc., and Carol De Leon in Maryland federal court on Thursday, alleging that they are infringing on Under Armour’s well-known trademark logo. The logo at issue is one used for sandal-clogg shoe hybrids known as “Floggs.”

A side-by-side comparison of the Under Armour logo and the Flogg logo does seem to reveal certain similarities, so the question is: how close is too close? Under Armour’s complaint states:

Defendants’ use …