PACKMAN V. CHICAGO TRIBUNE COMPANY
267 F.3d 628 (7th Cir. 2001)
NATURE OF THE CASE: Packman (P), owner of federal and state trademarks, appealed the
grant of summary judgment for Tribune (D), a newspaper and the printer of memorabilia, for
claims brought under the Lanham Act for trademark infringement and unfair competition.
FACTS: In recognition of the Chicago Bulls' sixth National Basketball Association ('NBA')
championship, D's front page headline read 'The joy of six.' As it has done on several other
historic occasions, D reproduced its entire front page on t-shirts, posters, plaques and
other memorabilia. P holds federal and Illinois trademarks for the phrase 'the joy of six,'
for use in relation to football and basketball games. The phrase 'the joy of six' is a play
on the 1970s book series The Joy of Sex. P's husband, Richard, began using the phrase 'the
joy of six' in the mid-1980s to describe a group with whom he exercised at a local health
club at 6:00 a.m. P began printing the phrase on flyers to advertise occasional gatherings
of family and friends to watch football games. P obtained a federal trademark for 'the joy
of six' for use in connection with 'entertainment services in the nature of football games.'
P also printed 'the joy of six' on small quantities of hats and t-shirts to promote the
gatherings, in connection with National Football League teams pursuing a possible sixth
Super Bowl championship, in particular the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys and in
relation to the Chicago Bulls' pursuit of a sixth NBA championship. A small quantity of
t-shirts and hats were given away, sold to friends and family, or sold at one Ohio retail
outlet and generated little, if any, profit. P sold an unknown number of 'The Joy of Six is
Coming . . . Chicago Basketball' t-shirts at cost to a homeless street vendor, who
presumably resold them. P attempted, without success, to negotiate contracts to license 'the
joy of six' for use in connection with National Football League and NBA teams. Just prior to
the Bulls' sixth NBA championship, P began negotiating a deal for t-shirts bearing 'the joy
of six' mark to be produced by a Chicago retailer. P claims that the retailer backed out of
the deal after D introduced its t-shirts bearing the June 15, 1998 front page and 'The joy
of six' headline. P brought this action against Ds under the Lanham Act for trademark
infringement and unfair competition and Illinois law. Shortly after D's headline appeared,
several of P's friends and family members contacted them to congratulate them on their
'deal' with D. These individuals had seen the Tribune's headline and knew of P's trademark
on 'the joy of six,' but there is no evidence that they purchased or attempted to purchase
either D's memorabilia or P's hats and t-shirts. P only objects to the reproduction of D's
front page, including 'The joy of six' headline, onto promotional memorabilia. Ds filed a
joint motion for summary judgment, and P filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on Ds'
liability. Ds' motion was granted. Ds employed 'The joy of six' in a non-trademark use in
good faith to describe a characteristic of their product, and, accordingly, the 'fair use'
defense protected them from liability for trademark infringement or unfair competition under
the Lanham Act. It also found that P could not prevail on her trademark infringement claim
because consumers were not likely to be confused about the source of the Tribune's goods. P
appealed.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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