Trademarks, Copyrights and the U(C)FC
The recent "Ultimate Cage Fighting Challenge" event in Pittsburgh has drawn the ire of the UFC. As UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner told MMAJunkie.com, "There's nothing wrong with [competition]. But there's some copyright infringement problems when they call themselves the UCFC."
I'm a long-time fan of Ratner, but he makes a common mistake in his statement. What the UFC is really concerned about here is trademark infringement not copyright infringement. Trademarks cover things that identify the source of goods and services. Examples include the UFC name and logo, and its slogans like "As Real As it Gets." Copyrights protect works of art such as posters or DVDs. (Patents--the third major arm of Intellectual Property--protect things like inventions, chemical compounds, and processes.)
In any event, the UCFC guys are in hot water. While their official name includes "Challenge," other websites referred to their event as the "Ultimate Cage Fighting Championship." Whether this resulted from internal references using the term "Championship" (such uses were reported by MMAJunkie.com) or was just a mistake on the part of third parties, it will help the UFC demonstrate the "likelihood of confusion" needed to prove trademark infringement. And, even if the term Challenge had consistently been used, "UCFC" cuts a little too close to "UFC," especially when your event features an appearance by Tito Ortiz.
The UCFC website is currently down, bearing the message "Our site is currently being upgraded. Sorry for the inconvenience." I suspect the "upgrade" will involve a pretty significant name change.
