Opinion ID: 628980
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 1990 District Court Opinion: Kregos I.

Text: 6 Kregos commenced this copyright and trademark infringement action in March 1989 against both AP and its supplier of baseball statistics and pitching forms, Sports Features Syndicate, Inc. (Sports Features), claiming that both the 1984 and the 1986 pitching forms directly infringed his works. Kregos I, 731 F.Supp. at 116. 7 Holding that Kregos's pitching form was not copyrightable, the district court granted summary judgment to AP and dismissed Kregos's claims. Judge Goettel additionally held that Kregos's forms were functional and thus not protected by trademark laws. Id. at 121-22 (construing Lanham Trademark Act, Sec. 43(a), 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1125(a)). Granting protection to the form itself would preclude any other supplier from publishing an authentic pitching form. Id. at 121. Further, any curtailing of the right to use the general categories used by Kregos, namely, wins, losses, innings pitched, and earned-run average, would exact a substantial limitation on competition. Kregos I, 731 F.Supp. at 122. 8