The Mexican Football Federation filed suit against prediction market operator Kalshi in the Southern District of New York on September 22. FMF is seeking an injunction barring use of the Liga MX trademark and club names, plus damages including profit from the alleged infringement.
The dispute began on July 17 when FMF chief legal counsel Rafael García Job sent Kalshi a cease-and-desist demanding it stop using the Liga MX logo, club emblems and other protected marks. Four days later Kalshi replied that its use qualifies as nominative fair use. The platform removed some logos and added disclaimers but continued using Liga MX and club names. Kalshi chief legal officer Richard Heaslip said the matter was 'closed'.
FMF repeated its demand on July 27. Kalshi head of legal Jovalin Dedaj again cited fair use on August 6, explaining that the company uses 'textual identification' for CFTC-regulated contracts. On August 18 Blank Rome, the US law firm retained by the federation, sent another warning with a ten-day deadline. Kalshi rejected FMF's position for the final time on September 1.
The platform points to Apple: investment firms use the name to identify the stock. FMF counters that Kalshi found workarounds for other sports — it calls Major League Baseball 'Pro Baseball', UFC becomes 'MMA', and MLB clubs go by city. Kalshi argues that Mexican cities field teams in several divisions, so omitting the league name would confuse customers.
Earlier this year the NCAA demanded removal of 'March Madness', 'Sweet Sixteen' and 'Final Four'. Kalshi complied then. With FMF it has refused to budge.
