The NFL last week filed suit over the NFLPA and
Millennium Entertainment's planned restaurant chain, the NFL
Players Grill, "to challenge the use of the 'NFL' name by
Millennium and Commonwealth Associates," a N.Y. investment
bank seeking funding for the restaurants, according to Terry
Lefton of BRANDWEEK. While the league "has never begrudged
the union use of 'NFL' as part of its name," the restaurant
"is the most conspicuous attempt by the union yet to use the
trademark for commercial purposes." Also, the NFL "has been
quietly shopping its own restaurant entertainment concept
for more than a year." According to the complaint, a
prospectus distributed by Commonwealth "included such claims
as 'Millennium is the first and only restaurant company
licensed to incorporate the NFL into a theme restaurant' and
'league events and promotions are to be scheduled,' at these
restaurants, both dubious claims, since the enterprise was
founded under a license from NFLPA." Sources tell Lefton
that "in their haste to find backers, the would-be NFL
restauranteurs apparently got overzealous, soliciting, among
others, NFL owners for start-up funding" (BRANDWEEK, 11/10).
