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U.S.: NFL, Reebok, sports teams sued over team merchandise monopoly

 |  October 26, 2012

U.S. sports teams are being sued over an alleged monopoly over NFL licensed apparel. The NFL, Adidas AG’s Reebok, and professional NFL teams are accused of a market dominancy conspiracy after team owners agreed to license intellectual property to only one NFL affiliate, who in tern granted an exclusive manufacturing license to Reebok for the production of NFL-affiliated clothing The complaint was filed October 24 in San Francisco. The NFL had previously granted clothing manufacturing licenses to up to 27 companies, allowing those manufacturers to make and sell clothing with NFL team logos.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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