March 15, 2021
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GameChanger, a Dick’s Sporting Goods subsidiary, is reportedly suing the operators of the Baseball Reference website for trademark infringement.
GameChanger is a mobile scorekeeping and live-streaming app for youth baseball. The lawsuit claims that Baseball Reference launched a baseball-viewing app called "Game Changer", which is likely to create consumer confusion.
GameChanger, which has an average of three million users per year, asserts that it has a trademark that has “achieved such widespread public exposure and recognition that it is highly distinctive and well-known among consumers in the United States, as well as among consumers in Pennsylvania.”
GameChanger applied for the trademark on April 13, 2009, and the trademark was registered on June 8, 2010.
Baseball Reference has reportedly indicated that it does not intend to stop using the name "Game Changer".
Authors: Aaron Barrett and Mark Leonard