Licensees Take Umbrage With Umbro

In Hudson Bay Apparel Brands v Umbro International, the High Court considered the scope of two exclusive licences granted by Umbro, to Dick's Sporting Goods and to Hudson Bay, permitting those licensees to sell soccer based clothing in the US. Dick's was licensed to sell "on-field" clothing for use "on the field of play", i.e. while actually playing the sport. Hudson Bay was licensed to sell "off-field" clothing, that is, clothing to be work by fans at any time, but not for use on the field of play. Umbro reserved the right to sell teamwear (worn by professional soccer teams) for itself.

During the course of the arrangement, Hudson Bay engaged in various negotiations with Umbro in particular regarding the style of shirts and other clothing to ensure they were not too similar to on-field wear. A particular issue that was discussed was whether shirts should include pockets, as on-field wear does not have this design feature. Hudson Bay eventually sued Umbro for