Glenview Park District Taking On NCAA In Copyright Dispute
(CBS) -- It's not quite David versus Goliath, but the Glenview Park District is preparing to do battle with the NCAA over a copyright issue.
The Glenview Park District has used the phrase "Experience It!" to promote its pools, golf club, ice center, tennis club and other activities since 2008, and trademarked it in 2011. It's even part of Park District Executive Director Michael McCarty's voice mail.
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The NCAA began using the phrase "Experience It Live!" last year, and is known for tough enforcement of its host of trademarks, which include "March Madness," "Elite Eight" and "Final Four." And, said outside attorney Ronald Rothstein, the Glenview Park District sponsors youth and adult regional athletic tournaments in hockey, figure skating, soccer, baseball and platform tennis, among others and considers its offerings far too similar to those the NCAA seeks to offer under the "Experience It Live!" mark.
Rothstein notes that the NCAA has already been turned down twice in its effort to trademark "Experience It Live." Now, the NCAA is trying again before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office appeals board, and the Glenview Park District is objecting. But Rothstein said the park district's goal is to work cooperatively with the NCAA to come up with a solution that benefits both groups; he said talks aimed at achieving a settlement have taken place.
