The Cubs are "coming down hard" on merchandise vendors in Chicago, as the team and MLB on Thursday filed a lawsuit "against a group of vendors selling knock-off Cubs apparel around Wrigley Field," according to Danny Ecker of CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS. The league and team allege that "dozens of individuals are violating trademarks with counterfeit merchandise, 'deliberately free riding on the success of the Cubs' without a license or permission." The federal lawsuit names "seven individual defendants and as many as thirty others for whom they could not personally identify selling knock-off shirts outside the ballpark on game days." It also "singles out shirts for sale on ChiApparel.com." Some of the designs on the site "use names and images of Cubs players." Vendors selling T-shirts and other merch with designs that "flirt with the Cubs trademarks and logos have been outside the Friendly Confines for years." But the Cubs' recent success on the field and "crop of marketable stars has boosted business for many of them." At the same time, the team has been "taking stronger action to shut down or hinder such operations." In addition to "trying to protect its brand from being associated with designs it doesn't like, the Cubs are intent on controlling the environment around the stadium to prevent ambush marketing from brands that may compete with the team's high-paying sponsors" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 9/22).
