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Poster Art USA threatened over trademark infringement
NHL benches 'Ice Bowl' line
By Sharon Linstedt NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
Updated: 12/23/07 6:47 AM
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The Ice Bowl poster featured a generic hockey player.
The National Hockey League has melted a locally created line of "Ice Bowl" products linked to the New Year's Day Winter Classic outdoor game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Facing NHL threats of prosecution for trademark infringement, Mark Corsi, owner of Poster Art USA on Elmwood Avenue, has agreed to halt sale and production of his "Ice Bowl" merchandise.
A source familiar with the situation said the NHL started with a "cease and desist" notice, and escalated actions when Corsi continued to sell the homegrown line of posters, T-shirts, hats, gloves and mugs.
NHL representatives did not respond to inquiries about the situation on Friday. Corsi is barred from discussing the situation under terms of the agreement.
In an October interview with The Buffalo News, Corsi explained he came up with the idea for the locally produced items in July on the heels of rumors the Sabres would play an outdoor game in January at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
"It was 90 degrees and everybody was talking about the Ice Bowl," Corsi said. "And nobody was calling it the NHL Winter Classic, it was Ice Bowl, Ice Bowl, Ice Bowl."
After consulting his attorney, the seller of new and vintage posters found "Ice Bowl" was not a registered trademark and quickly filed a federal trademark application. The centerpieces of Corsi's product line were a poster and T-shirt featuring a generic hockey player, dressed in a dark blue jersey, with gold trim, emblazoned with a gold "B."
Corsi said he took care to make sure none of his items bore direct references to the Winter Classic, or trademarked images of the NHL, Buffalo Sabres, or Pittsburgh Penguins.
When the items were unveiled, Sabres Chief Operating Officer Daniel DiPofipredicted Corsi was on thin ice, saying "any reasonable person will recognize he's referring to an NHL event." The Sabres front office declined to comment on icing of the "Ice Bowl" line Friday, calling it a league matter.
Corsi, who saw brisk sales of the "Ice Bowl" line out of his Elmwood Avenue shop and its Web site, opened a kiosk in Amherst's Boulevard Mall in November to keep pace with demand. Brian Calvert, the mall's specialty leasing manager, said the Poster Art kiosk remains open and has switched over to Buffalo-themed posters and other merchandise.
"I know [Corsi] was disappointed about what happened. It's too bad because the Ice Bowl products were really nice, but his regular products are also quite nice and he's doing what he has to do," Calvert said.
While Corsi, an Elmwood Avenue veteran, can't talk about the "Ice Bowl" meltdown, he has found an outlet for "silent protest." An officially licensed poster depicting the Stanley Cup is now hanging upside down in the window of his store at 1055 Elmwood Ave.
As the banned "Ice Bowl" line has evaporated, NHL-sanctioned Winter Classic products are arriving at local stores and the Sabres Shop at HSBC Arena. Jim Laux, of Laux Sporting Goods, said although the official products are expected to sell well, the timing is off a bit.
"It would have been nice to have them in sooner. We won't get the jerseys with the players names sewn on them on the floor until after Christmas," Laux said.
Sabres spokesman Michael Gilbert also said Winter Classic items have been on shelves only a few days but have been hot sellers since their arrival. In addition to the special white Sabres jerseys, the official product lineup includes thermal underwear shirts, hooded sweat shirts, caps and the fuzzy "Fargo Flap Cap."
slinstedt AT buffnews.com
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Patriots try to complete unbeaten season
By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer 2 hours, 27 minutes ago
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The Patriots will get help from plenty of fans instead of a video camera when they return to the scene of "Spygate." Those who aren't at the Meadowlands can still watch the final step in New England's bid for an undefeated regular season on the channel of their choice.
Interest in the potential history-making event convinced the league to allow NBC and CBS to simulcast Saturday night's game against the New York Giants nationally. It had been restricted to the NFL Network and local stations in the Boston and New York areas.
Win, and the Patriots become the first team to finish a regular season at 16-0. Lose, and Patriot-haters throughout the country can celebrate in front of their TV sets.
"It will be like the State of the Union address," an unusually cheery Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "You can flip to every channel and see it."
New England fans who just have to be there can pay exorbitant prices online for tickets. Some are being offered by Giants fans who don't care to attend an event that has no bearing on their team's playoff status.
New York plays a first-round game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following weekend.
"We definitely appreciate the support of the fans. We definitely hear them when we're on the road," Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said. "We always have a lot of support on the road, but at the end of the day the game is won or lost between the lines."
The Giants (10-5) clinched a wild-card berth last Sunday with a win at Buffalo. That improved their road record to 7-1. They're 3-4 at home, where fans - like those selling their tickets for Saturday's game - may not be very supportive.
"That's probably one of the reasons why we are better on the road than we are at home," running back Brandon Jacobs said. "If it is that way and (the Patriots) got more fans, then so be it."
At least one person won't be there the way he was three months ago - the Patriots' video assistant who got caught taping the New York Jets' defensive coaches with a sideline camera in the season opener, costing Belichick and the team $750,000 in fines and a first-round draft pick.
That, too, was at the Meadowlands where the Patriots beat the Jets 38-14.
Now, New England, still without a loss, will end its regular season on the same field in front of cameras the NFL wants to be there.
Then the Patriots get to rest during their bye week. They have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
"We're not looking at the playoffs right now and we're not really thinking about being undefeated," linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "There's a simple way how we got here, and that's focusing on the opponent that we happen to have in front of us. This week we've got a formidable one in the New York Giants."
The Giants lead the NFL in sacks and have the fourth-most productive running game in the league, led by Jacobs.
"He's 270 pounds," said Harrison, who will have to tackle him. "So that's like a Ferrari meeting a Mack truck."
The Patriots would be helped if the Giants play their regulars sparingly, since the outcome of the game has no bearing on their playoff position. Coach Tom Coughlin hasn't said what he'll do.
Belichick said he'll use his players according to what he feels is best for the team.
"This has been a very special season," Tom Brady said. "I'd hate to think that we'd go out there and not put our best out there this week."
The Giants would love to stop New England from being the first team to go undefeated in the regular season since the Miami Dolphins in 1972, who won the Super Bowl to finish at 17-0.
They'd also like to keep Brady from breaking Peyton Manning's single-season record of 49 touchdown passes and Randy Moss from passing Jerry Rice's mark of 22 scoring receptions. Each needs two more to set the records.
"Nobody in the NFL wants to see them go undefeated," defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. "If they do go undefeated, they are going to be known as that team that was just that much better than everybody else. I don't want to see that."
The Patriots need six points to break Minnesota's record of 556 in a season set in 1998 when Moss was a rookie with the Vikings. They've outscored opponents by a record 312 points with a margin of 36.7-15.9 per game. They're tied with Tampa Bay for fewest points allowed, 239.
"The good thing about those records is all those didn't come against us," Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "Those 551 points, those 15 wins, that wasn't against the New York Giants. This is just one game. It isn't our fault the guys before decided to give up all those points."
The Patriots are trying to make history. The Giants want to stop them.
"It would definitely help just knowing that you're playing a good team and having the opportunity to end on a high note," New York quarterback Eli Manning said. "The outcome doesn't ultimately matter, but you still want to go out there and play good football."
It matters to the Patriots and all the fans around the country who will be tuning in.
So what does Belichick think of the widespread TV coverage?
"We're just trying to get ready for the game," he said. "I'm not planning on watching it."
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