Black Fives, Inc. demands that Abdul-Jabbar stop using its logos without permission to promote his “On The Shoulders Of Giants” products.
Black Fives, Inc., owners of a well-known series of trademarked logos commemorating vintage African American basketball teams, demands Abdul-Jabbar stop using them without permission to promote his “On The Shoulders Of Giants” products. Abdul-Jabbar’s unauthorized uses include online marketing and nationally televised ad spots during N.B.A. Playoffs and Finals games.
(Greenwich, Connecticut) June 5, 2008 – Black Fives, Inc. today sent a cease and desist letter demanding that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stop using its trademarked logos without permission to promote his “On The Shoulders Of Giants” products. According to the letter, Abdul-Jabbar’s actions constitute, among other things, federal and common law trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false association.
Rens logo owned by Black Fives, Inc. being used in Abdul-Jabbar's nationally televised ad without the owners' permission.
Abdul-Jabbar is using Black Fives intellectual property associated with the famous New York Renaissance all-black basketball team that won the first World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1939 on his website, in online marketing, and in nationally televised ads, including spots that run during N.B.A. Playoffs and Finals games.
“The Black Fives owned trademarks being used without Black Fives’ permission, that we know of so far, are New York Renaissance Big R Five and Rens,” said Kimberly Reddick of the law firm K&L Gates LLP, which represents Black Fives, Inc. in intellectual property matters.
Black Fives, Inc. has license agreements with several companies including Nike and Converse. Neither Abdul-Jabbar nor the company that markets his products, Union/OSG LLC, have been licensed or otherwise authorized to use these trademarks.
The letter was also sent to Abdul-Jabbar’s marketing, production, and public relations partner, Deborah Morales.
“We have a contractual obligation to our existing and potential licensees and sponsors to vigilantly protect our trademarks,” said Black Fives, Inc. founder and president Claude Johnson. “We also have a broader social and cultural responsibility to protect and preserve the value of these logos and the history they represent by ensuring their proper use.”
The New York Renaissance, also known as the “Rens” or “Harlem Rens,” were enshrined as a team into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1963.
“To this day, I have never seen a team play better team basketball,” said legendary U.C.L.A. coach and Hall of Fame member John Wooden – who faced the Rens often during the mid-1930s while a player with the Indianapolis Kautskys – in a USA Today interview in 2000. Wooden coached Abdul-Jabbar at U.C.L.A., where the legendary coach created his famous Pyramid of Success. Wooden’s popular success model includes as its first lesson that “Good Values Attract Good People.”
The marks Black Fives, New York Renaissance, New York Rens, Harlem Rens, and Rens are trademarks of Black Fives, Inc., all rights reserved.
This press release is also available via PRWeb.com.
About Black Fives, Inc.:
Black Fives, Inc. combines pre-NBA African American basketball history with elements of modern pop culture to produce meaningful motivation, inspiration, and enlightenment people can use today, with the slogan “Make history now!”
About K&L Gates LLP:
K&L Gates LLP is a multidisciplinary law firm that works with businesses of all sizes in a variety of industries, with service firms, with government bodies, with tax-exempt organizations, and with individuals.
Contacts:
Claude Johnson
Black Fives, Inc.
203-493-8600
http://www.blackfives.com
Kimberly Reddick
K&L Gates LLP
202-466-6300
http://www.klgates.com
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Please donate. Your generous tax-deductible donation helps the Black Fives Foundation use this history to teach life lessons relevant today! Thank you!
Utterly amazing and also very sad. The arrogance of a few can direct the positive focus on a history which should be celebrated into legal drama. Good luck in loudly proclaiming that star-quality does not mean theft.
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Way to go Claude. Take a stand and don’t let the big boys throw their weight around. Besides, who needs B-on-B crime here. Karim should step up, give you your props and get permission, or make license agreement, so the compensation for intellectual property is rightly distributed, then everybody’s happy.
Brian G. Jones
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Claude…I knew this was coming. On several occasions I told Deborah, that I saw a problem with usage of other peoples domain. As you know she is very quick to move on things and as a result doesn’t stop and think of possible ramifications. I have helped her on many occasions; yet, she persists in pushing. I don’t think Kareem has a good control of her actions….and maybe this is a wake up call for him too. Have you ever talked to Kareem relative this matter?……bill
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As i look at this, I’ve asked myself, “Why are we fighting?”
On one hand is the “RIGHT$” to promote history. Do we own history? Do we put a $ sign on the front door of educational enlightenment.
Can we give everyone the opportunity learn our sports legacy?
I live in So. Cal, and lot of our people have not even heard of “BLACK FIVES”.
With all respect to Black Fives and Claude Johnson, what I see is the opportunity to spread the word. I pray that this matter gets resolved, as to allow our children and our children’s children to have access to our long and storied history.
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Anthony Oliver, it sounds to me that as the owner of JA LEGACY SPORTSWEAR, you are out of touch and completely missed the point of the cease and desist letter to the former Lou Alcindor and his camp for federal and common law trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false association. Black Fives, Inc. is already providing to our children and our children’s children access to our long and storied history. Perhaps you may be interested in providing a free piggy-back ride for Abdul-Jabbar and the company that markets his products. Uhh…, what is it that you are selling again in the retail industry…, in SO-CAL; knock-offs in the LA area…?
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I support you and the Black Fives in this and any other matter.
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fyi, the average citizen does not know that if you own a trademark, you must by law defend it otherwise you can lose it. so Black Fives MUST protect itself here. disappointing that Kareem and his people are ignorant of this. I surely hope it is unintentional, so to speak.
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Like my fellow Hoosier Tosh, I’ve been seeing this conflict coming. My impression after speaking w/ Deborah is that she sees sports history as a “business” to be “pitched.” Respect for the complete historical record of the 1930s Rens upon whom the Jabbar campaign is focusing is secondary to marketing.
Over time such conflicts can spread from NY-oriented historical subjects such as the Rens to other classic clubs like the Chicago Crusaders. Millions of NYers & Chicagoans of course are proud of their city histories & have lots of money to spend (& can attract buyers from other regions, too). Who owns history? Ultimately, we all do, & not even a hoops legend like Kareem can cash in w/out recognizing these teams’ rights to their logos.
In a related vein the NBA which tried so hard to destroy the ABA & downplay proud ABA veterans’ records should not rightfully ‘own’ the Memphis Pros & other intellectual property that it never appreciated until ‘retro’ came back in style.
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Sad keep fighting Claude let me know if there is anything I can do. It’s sad that the hard work and sweat of what you have done with the black fives is being disrespected by Kareem Abdul-Jabar. Funny thing is he should know better It was just a few years when he sued a former NFL player for say his name was too similar.
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Brother Claude, stay firm on this fight to protect Blackfives and all the work that you have done. I support your efforts and whatever I can do to help, give me a holler. In the interest of integrity, Brother Zach.
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Funny, the history of Black Fives has been around for almost 100 years. Bro. Claude had enough respect for our heritage to research and chronicle a period in African American history that was neglected, discarded, and viewed as having no value. From a business perspective, he did not get caught in nostaglic reminiscing. NO! He did the smart thing and had it trademarked in order to protect “our culture” from the corporate vultures. Now, does Bro. Claude have a right to make money on Black Fives–Absolutely! He did the research and had the smarts to turn it into a business opportunity as well. As a business man should he protect his investment? Only a fool would neglect to do so! Plus, Bro. Claude cares about the history; unlike the corportrate vultures who only want to make a buck selling you back your culture.
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Thank you very much for your comments, support, and encouragement.
I also got so many reader comments via email that I decided to share some of them, raw and uncut, without bias (first names only):
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Claude,
Keep fighting and we are all behind you. I will never forget the day I discovered
Black Fives. It has opened a door in the Orange New Jersey community that we did not even know was there. We will support you in any way possible. How dare Kareem. He certainly knows better.
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Claude,
I’m probably the last person to comment about this, but I wanted to say I saw the ads during the Finals, and it never crossed my mind there might be some copyright infringement involved. In fact, I had planned to check out the website because I thought they were advertising a DVD. Nevertheless, I’m surprised, just like some of the other folks who’ve commented apparently are, that Kareem and his people wouldn’t know better. If they didn’t, I’m sure they know now!
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