It's that time of year again...no, not the basketball tournament...rather, the NCAA's aggressive policing of its MARCH MADNESS trademarks. Throughout the year, but particularly during college basketball's championship season, the NCAA will send cease and desist letters to unaffiliated marketers using MARCH MADNESS or phrases similar thereto. The Association is also not afraid to bring lawsuits against users of marks that it deems confusingly similar to their own, including marks like MARKDOWN MADNESS and APRIL MADNESS.

The NCAA also tries to keep the US Patent and Trademark Office registry "clean" (and therefore strengthening its rights) by challenging applications for trademarks that incorporate MARCH and/or MADNESS, such as:

• MUNCH MADNESS
• MEOW MEOW MADNESS
• STREET MADNESS
• MANGO MADNESS
• SUB MADNESS
• MESH MADNESS
• MOWER MADNESS
• SPRING MADNESS
• MOTOR CITY MADNESS
• MIAMI MADNESS
• BASKETBALL MADNESS
• MARCH IS ON!
• MARCH MULLIGANS
• MARCH GREATNESS
• MAD MARCH
• MARCH MATNESS
• MARCH BASKETBALL MANIA!

And it's not just MADNESS, but MAYHEM too, with oppositions against MAY MAYHEM and VASECTOMY MAYHEM.

Marketers beware - it's madness out there this time of year. And if you do not have an official sponsorship with the NCAA, they - like any rightsholder trying to protect its rights - are not afraid to enforce.