NY Jets Logo Lawsuit Confronts Question of Sports IP’s Value

Ex-New York Jets employee Jim Pons designed the NFL team’s recently revived 1978-1997 logo, however, said he was never compensated for his design. Turning to legal action, Pons’ quest to enforce his copyright and trademark claims is looking to be a challenge.

Finnegan partner Mark Sommers told Bloomberg Law that the milieu of IP rights involved makes it complicated to extricate precisely what rights might exist, when they came to be, and which particular acts might infringe which rights. 

“If courts, judges, and litigants sometimes have a hard time operating within a field of play of rights, a jury is going to be even more confused.”

Mark said Pons’ quest for a share of the Jets’ roughly $100 million in annual merchandise revenue would turn on a battle of damages experts, whose assessments “can differ widely” before the jury is asked to pick a number. 

“The fight could include analysis of licensing revenue, royalty rates, or costs to have a logo created.”

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