NFL, Raiders sued for allegedly threatening law firm with trademark infringement over Super Bowl ad

Lsas Vegas-based personal injury lawyer Steve Dimopoulos has filed a federal lawsuit against the NFL and the Las Vegas Raiders after they allegedly threatened him with "heightened legal penalties" due to his Super Bowl LVII ad.

Maxx Crosby of the Raiders, Williams Karlsson of the Vegas Golden Knights, and UFC's Jon Jones of the UFC appeared in an ad for Dimopoulos Injury Law that ran in the Las Vegas media market and on YouTube.

Each was featured training, while Dimopoulos was shown getting ready for the floor.

On February 22, the NFL and the Raiders sent Dimopoulos a simultaneous cease-and-desist letter asking that he stop airing the advertisement or else face legal repercussions for trademark infringement. He had until March 1 to reply, and he did so by filing a federal lawsuit.

Dimopoulos insists that there's no trademark infringement in his commercial.

He said that he has been using the silver and black colors since 2012, long before the Raiders announced they were moving to Las Vegas years ago, referring to Crosby putting on a black and silver jersey and helmet during the commercial.

Dimopoulos added that he was very careful not to use any Raiders logos and that the only ones that appear in the commercial are hislaw firm’s logos.

Dimopoulos noted that the lawsuit wasn’t to just defend his Super Bowl ad but also to counter the NFL’s penchant for “attacking people in small business that don’t have the knowledge or the resources to defend themselves.”

He added that he found out that the NFL has a reputation for being abusive and overreaching on their intellectual property rights.

Suing was part of his as he wants to stand up for those people, said Dimapoulos.