NFL Takes Issue With USFL’s Michigan Panthers Trademark

We have covered in the past Trademark oppositions between the NFL and XFL. Now the NFL’s Carolina Panthers have taken issue with the USFL’s trademarked name of the Michigan Panthers. Thanks to XNH fan Seth Lessans for this bit of info.

This opposition is interesting because three entities actually have rights to the USFL’s trademark Michigan Panthers name. The Spring League is one, and The National Spring Football League is another. From what we understand, The National Spring Football League is owned by Fox. Brian Woods owns The Spring League. The NFL has taken issue with The Spring League-owned name, not the Fox-owned name.

We assume that the transitions of rights from The Spring League to the National Spring Football League aka Fox, have not gone through yet, which is why we see this.

It is also interesting that the XFL’s Defenders name is a finalist for the Washington Football Teams new name, but the NFL doesn’t have an issue with using an XFL-owned Trademark.

The Michigan Panthers and DC Defenders have yet to play a down of football, so we will see how all this plays out in the coming weeks as both leagues begin to ramp up. The USFL expects to kick off Friday, April 15th 2022. In contrast, the XFL looks to return to the field in 2023.