Official statement from the UFC.

It was just another week in the life of the UFC, as sometimes the fights don’t just take place inside the Octagon, but outside of it as well. A case in point was Zuffa’s recent trademark infringement lawsuit against the Worldwide Fighting Championship and Gino Carlucci, which was filed in Phoenix on January 10th.

“It’s an unfortunate situation when we have to wake up every day, come into work and sue people because they’re using our brand names and copying the look of our product and logos,” said UFC President Dana White. “It would be like me waking up and thinking ‘you know what? McDonalds looks like they make a lot of money. I think I’m gonna open up my own McDonalds and use their golden arches.’ You can’t do it. It should be common sense that you can’t use someone’s trademarks and all their intellectual property without their permission, but people try to get away with it and it’s unfortunate, because when they do, we inevitably have to go out and take care of it.”

The case centered on the Worldwide Fighting Championship’s usage of an Octagon in its events without a license from Zuffa, as well as using an Octagon design as part of its logo; using the term ‘Ultimate Fighting’ in advertisements; and using a ‘WFC’ logo that was confusingly similar to that of Zuffa’s UFC logo.

And contrary to what some press releases issued by the offending company would have you believe, the lawsuit had nothing to do with wiping out competing brands or the use of the phrase “Fighting Championship”; it’s about protecting the UFC’s intellectual properties and keeping newer fans of the sport from being confused by misleading advertising.

“They’re using ‘Ultimate Fighting’, and they’re using an Octagon with fencing over it,” said White. “And whether people like it or not, Zuffa owns the trademark to the Octagon, Zuffa owns the trademark to ‘Ultimate Fighting,’ and if you illegally use any of them, Zuffa will sue you. End of story.”

As for other news outlets’ erroneous reports on this matter, White pulled no punches.

“It's unbelievable to me that certain MMA websites who want to be taken seriously continue to deliver false news and rumors to fight fans on a regular basis,” he said. “One site, which claims to be ‘following this situation closely’ is still reporting on this without having read the actual complaint – which is a publicly available document. It’s sloppy reporting and it does a disservice to the hardcore fans that follow this sport.”

The case was resolved last week though, just before a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Wednesday, January 18th. The Federal District Court entered a Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction against the WFC and Gino Carlucci on January 25, 2006, in which the WFC defendants acknowledged the validity of Zuffa’s federal trademark rights, and were ordered to refrain from using the term ULTIMATE FIGHTING, to modify the WFC logo to remove the octagon component and to modify the font style and appearance of the “WFC”. As part of the Judgment, WFC was ordered to obtain a license from Zuffa and pay license fees in connection with WFC's use of the Octagon fighting enclosure at its WFC mixed martial arts events.

Said White after these recent events, “Zuffa spends a lot of time and money to create its intellectual property, and Zuffa is required by law to protect the rights it acquires. As a result, we will use all legal means necessary to prevent others from confusing fans into believing they are buying the UFC experience.”

Source: UFC.TV