Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. v. Sed Non Olet Denarius, Ltd.
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
817 F. Supp. 1103 (S.D.N.Y. 1993)
After the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958 and became the LA Dodgers (plaintiff), the team made no commercial use of the 'Brooklyn Dodgers' trademark for over two decades, using it only for historical events like Old Timer's Day until 1981, when it began selling clothing and novelty items bearing the mark. In 1988, Sed Non Olet Denarius (SNOD) (defendant) opened a Brooklyn restaurant with a logo intentionally nearly identical to the Brooklyn Dodgers trademark; LA sued for infringement, and SNOD raised abandonment as a defense.
Whether a federally registered trademark is considered abandoned if its use has been discontinued with intent not to resume.