According to reports from British media, the football club Manchester United has filed a lawsuit against Sports Interactive and SEGA, the developers of the most famous football club management game, Football Manager. As one might guess, the latest version of the game, Football Manager 2020, is the reason for the dispute between the club and the developers. What exactly is the issue? The lawyers for the Red Devils (a common nickname for the club from Manchester) claim in the lawsuit that the developers and publishers of Football Manager are infringing on the club’s trademark by excessively using the team’s name to promote their game. Moreover, according to the club, it’s not just about the verbal trademark, but also the graphic one in the form of the team’s crest, which, in the context of the logos generated by the game, is rather peculiar. The lawyers argue that the game developers used a simplified version of the team’s logo by replacing the well-known crest with a simple white and red logo. Such actions are intended to lead to better reception and higher sales of the game in question.
The developer and publisher are shocked by Manchester United’s stance, especially since the English club has n featured in their game since 1992, when it was still officially called Championship Manager, and there have n no disputes on this matter since then. Interestingly, for many years, copies of the game sent to the Manchester club have n met with positive feedback. According to the lawyers of the companies being sued, restricting the use of the name “Manchester United” in a game that is a football management simulator primarily leads to an unjustified restriction of freedom of expression. The case is particularly interesting because the game itself features over two and a half thousand teams from almost every corner of the world, and none of them have made similar claims to the game’s creators.
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