Friday, March 13, 2009

Technical foul

Seems gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell has been called for a violation by the NCAA. Earlier this week, McDonnell's website advertised a basketball tournament contest called McDonnell's March Madness. That's when officials blew the whistle and charged him with a foul under trademark law - the term "March Madness" has long been protected. Even if they wanted to allow him to use the term, as a nonprofit (for tax purposes) organization, the NCAA cannot permit a politician to use the words in a political campaign.
McDonnell, a former attorney general who one would think is on top of the law, was benched briefly. Besides John McCain had tried the same slogan thing... and also had to back down. After a couple days the McDonnell website sported a new slogan, "McDonnell's Bracket Madness." Doesn't quite have the same ring to it!

No comments: