December 21, 2015

ST. LOUIS – The Midwest Professional Basketball Association is expected this week to direct attorneys to issue a formal cease and desist order against the former owners of one of its teams, in advance of further legal action, for the repeated use of a logo that was created exclusively for use in the MPBA.

                The MPBA assumed control, including all intellectual property, of the Chicago Force and Windy City Groove clubs on November 6, citing league rules regarding ownership and team operation guidelines.  However, former Force owners Steve and La Chelle Sanders, and their newly formed ownership group, Chicago Basketball League Corp. (CBLC), in forming a new team, have continued to use without permission the Groove logo in promotional materials in print and online, on t-shirts being sold, and in a game played Sunday in the American Basketball Association.

                The logo for the Groove was created in October, 2014, by Joyce Thomas of Joyce Thomas Designs.  Thomas owns the copyright for the logo, and has granted exclusive usage rights for both the Groove and Force solely to the MPBA.  While the Sanderses owned the Force, there was never a finalized agreement regarding ownership of the Groove, only discussions and negotiations.  And the MPBA has never executed any written agreement with CBLC.

                The Windy City Groove will continue to play in the MPBA in 2016 with the same coaching staff and at the same venue they used in 2015.  The league changed the Force brand to the Chicago Blues and designed a new logo so that the Sanderses could use the Force name, which they brought into the league.  Discussions regarding granting licensed usage of the Force logo—which was also designed by Thomas—were ongoing when Steve Sanders officially notified the league that they were withdrawing on November 6. 

                “We offered to discuss a license agreement regarding the use of the Force logo that we designed for their team,” said C. Edward “Ed” Schumer, commissioner and chief executive officer of the MPBA.  “We even changed the name of our team to Blues so that they could move forward in their new affiliation without causing confusion in the marketplace.  We had also hoped to get our Groove equipment and apparel returned from their possession, and we were completely surprised when we learned they were presenting themselves as the Windy City Groove.

“We will aggressively protect our brand and intellectual property rights and use all available resources and remedies to do so,” Schumer continued.  “In the meantime, we will do everything possible to inform the basketball and business communities as to our position and the actions we are taking.”

                When league officials discovered last week that the Sanderses began circulating promotional materials and marketing t-shirts with Thomas’ Groove logo on it, as well as promoting their December 20 game, they reached out to ABA Commissioner Joe Newman and informed him of the situation.

                In response, in an email to the MPBA on December 17, on which La Chelle Sanders was copied, Newman stated that until the situation is resolved, “the name and logo cannot be used in the ABA.”

                “After seeing Mr. Newman’s response to us and copied to Ms. Sanders, we were satisfied the situation would be resolved,” Schumer said.  “This situation is between the Sanderses, the CLBC, and the MPBA.  We have no reason to believe Mr. Newman has changed his position.  We believe he is waiting for a determination of the copyright ownership which has, at the request of the Sanderses’ new counsel, been sent.”

                However, the logo did end up being used in the December 20 game.

                “It just might be as simple as the fact that they didn’t return the league-purchased and owned uniforms and warm-up wear after last season and didn’t want to buy new gear,” said Craig Fata, vice president and director of communications for the MPBA.  “But whatever it is, now that they used the logo in a game to which they sold tickets, and sold t-shirts with the logo on it, we believe not only have they violated the copyright, but that they have also caused actual monetary and branding damages to the MPBA.”

                The Groove open their 2016 MPBA season on January 9, 2016 on the road against the defending league champions, the Champaign Swarm.