Court: 'March Madness' is a Trademark

A federal district court has ruled that 'March Madness' is a trademark owned by the NCAA and the Illinois High School Association and that a defendant infringed the mark and cybersquatted by registering marchmadness.com. The defendant used the site for basketball-related material but had no affiliation with either plaintiff. The NCAA and ISHA are members of the March Madness Athletic Association, which was formed in 200 to pool the respective trademark rights to the "March Madness" name. The term "March Madness" was coined by announcer Brent Musberger in 1982 to describe the NCAA college basketball tournament.

The court found that the MMAA held the rights to the term "March Madness," and rejected the defendant's claim that the term had become generic. The judge also ruled that there was a strong likelihood of confusion and no fair use defense, since the defendant was attempting to use the term commercially in relation to the NCAA basketball tournament.

The 5th Circuit affirmed the ruling.

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