Trademark Considerations for the NCAA’s NIL Policy

By Corinne Zucker, of Cozen O’Connor On June 30, 2021, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) Division I, II, and III sports finally adopted a groundbreaking uniform interim policy suspending NCAA name, image and likeness (“NIL”) rules for all incoming and current student-athletes. Previously, the NCAA forbade college athletes to profit from their NIL. The NCAA relied on antitrust law, which permitted them to eliminate any sort of athlete compensation and to distingui