City Told To Ask Permission From Tournament Before Using Association’s Intellectual Property to ‘Avoid Creating Further Disputes’ 

In an April 6 letter, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association told the City of Pasadena it must obtain a license from the Association, in writing, before using any of the Tournament’s word marks, logos, photographs or artwork “to avoid creating further disputes.” 

The list of Tournament word marks includes phrases such as “Pasadena Tournament of Roses®, “Rose Bowl®,” “Rose Bowl Game®, “Rose Parade®, and “The Granddaddy of Them All®.”

The Tournament said in the letter that the City was party to a  Consent Agreement to not use “‘any mark containing the words ROSE BOWL on or in connection with [TOR’s] Goods and Services.’ Accordingly, as agreed in the existing contracts between the Parties, the City must obtain a written license from TOR before using any of TOR’s [Intellectual Property].”

“Our marks are used by a lot of people,” Tournament of Roses Association Executive Director/CEO David Eads said in an interview Sunday. “We have sponsors that we licensed to use our marks. We have our float participants, our marching bands use our marks again, as they do their fundraising… Lots of people have permission to use our marks.”

“We expect the city to abide by the same rules that everybody else does when they use our marks,” Eads said.

Eads framed the letter within the context of the Tournament’s recent legal action against the City.

If you go back to the original lawsuit, the reason for the filing was around asking the court to declare the ownership of the Rose Bowl Game marks and IP (Intellectual Property), Eads said. “The City was saying that it co-owned the Rose Bowl Game.”

That’s why the Tournament brought the lawsuit against the City, Eads said.

“The judge’s ruling … noted that the City acknowledged that the Tournament owns the Rose Bowl Game trademark, which then rendered much of that lawsuit moot. So the City acknowledged that they did not own the Game or have the rights to those trademarks.”

The Tournament letter said the Association “actively polices the marketplace for unauthorized uses of its IP.”

“We ask the City and all of its related entities and departments to avoid creating future disputes by contacting us before using the Tournament’s IP to request a license to use the same, which we would typically expect to grant under reasonable circumstances (e.g., in connection with promotion of the Rose Bowl Game and ticket and suite sales at the Rose Bowl Stadium)  and on reasonable conditions,” the Tournament letter said. 

According to Eads, compliance with the Tournament’s IP Branding Guidelines and IP Style Guide govern the city’s use of the Tournament’s word marks, logos, and other property.

Eads said the Tournament will not hesitate to enforce its rights if it discovers unauthorized uses of its IP. 

“As brand owners, we must ensure that all uses of the Tournament’s IP are licensed and adhere to our rigorous quality standards.” 

“We trust that the City will respect these principles and the Tournament’s IP,” Eads said.

City spokesperson Lisa Derderian declined to comment on the letter and said the City continues “to work with and respect our ToR partners.”