Napster Sues Sport Service Over Trademark

Napster Inc., an online music-sharing service fighting a landmark copyright dispute, sued online retailer Sport Service Inc. for wrongfully using its trademark. Napster alleges closely held Sport Service is selling T-shirts and caps with Napster’s cat-design trademark, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Sport Service operates Napsterstore.com, a domain it purchased in May. Sport Service’s Web site says it will soon offer decals, apparel and other Napster merchandise, Napster alleges in the lawsuit. The online music company alleges Sport Service is causing confusion and has caused it irreparable harm. “Sport Service has demonstrated a bad-faith attempt to profit,” Napster said in the suit, which seeks an injunction and unspecified damages. San Mateo, Calif.-based Napster itself is operating under the threat of an injunction after a federal court in July found its software allows illegal music copying over the Internet. That order was delayed, pending a Napster appeal. Indianapolis-based Sport Service could not be reached for comment.