Slogan

Slogans are protectable via U.S. Trademark Law. However, the valuation of any intellectual property (e.g. patents, trademarks, copyrights etc...) is often very difficult and deals with a variety of factors (e.g. strength of mark, size of market, prior relationship between buyer/purchaser, trademark registration validity etc...)

A common approach is to attempt to identify similar slogans used in the same market and attempt to determine the value by prior assignment or purchase agreeements. If this information is not available to you then most likely you might have to rely heavily on the valuation by the purchaser (NFL) and then negotiate from there.

Please see my Legal Guides on how to protect your ideas. Make sure they understand, and get it in writing, that you expect to be compensated for your idea and expressions of your idea. You're perhaps best off negotiating for a royalty on sales, with an advance against that royalty, and ironcald accounting and audit rights. I strongly recommend hiring an entertainment/sports/licensing lawyer and taking them with you to this meeting on Friday.

Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on, since each state has different laws, each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Follow Ms. Koslyn's suggestions. Also, it makes much sense to file an "intent to use" trademark registration application for the slogan before you go to the meeting. You should spend an hour or so with a trademark attorney who can file the application for your properly. Good luck.

My colleagues above have provided some good advice. If you want further clarification, I am in Atlanta and can be reached at the contact information on my page.

Intellectual property such as slogans is often extremely difficult to value and usually simply determined by the parties involved and the speculation of use. You should speak with an intellectual property attorney before your meeting and most likely also retain him/her to assist with the negotiation.

If you would like to discuss any issues further, please feel free to contact my office. My contact information is below. Thank you.

The foregoing is general information only, not specific legal advice. No attorney/client relation has been created or should be implied.

I agree with the suggestions given above.

Individuals attempting to license a slogan/trademark to an NFL Franchise face many significant decisions that affect their ability to commercially exploit those intellectual property rights and negotiate compensation. Some of the most critical issues include: term of exclusivity, structure of royalty payments and use (as an example, the use to certain applications, to certain affiliated products and merchandise, to certain geographical territories, or to certain markets).

I highly recommend that you contact an Intellectual Property Attorney to join you when meeting with the VP of Marketing.

THE COMMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL USE ONLY- NOT AS LEGAL OPINION. NO ATTORNEY/CLIENT RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED.