Not a Heavy Lift: USAW Outlasts Breakaway Masters Weightlifting Organization in Trademark Suit

By Robert E. Freeman, with Jackson Friedman, Andrew J. Rubin and Tara R. Shecter, Of Proskauer USA Weightlifting (“USAW”) flexed its legal muscle this past March when it prevailed at summary judgment in the Southern District of New York on its trademark-related counterclaims against USA Masters Weightlifting (“Masters Weightlifting”), a splinter organization that broke away from USAW in an effort to control weightlifting events for athletes 35 years or older. (USA Masters Weightlifting,