If there’s one lesson to take from the last 30 years of sports merchandising, it’s that nothing - nothing - is more powerful than the brand. Nike understands this, of course, and their ability to profit from the Michael Jordan “Jumpman” logo has been not just a model, but the golden standard for other shoe companies, teams, and leagues to aspire to.

(You know, this old thing.)

So with MJ’s shoo-in nomination forthcoming (it has to be unanimous, right? has to be), you know Nike’s salivating over adding the “HOF” to their line of Air Jordans. As a matter of fact, they’ve already started the advertising campaign with that obviously fake-viral Leroy Smith ad campaign. That’s going to be a revenue bonanza, right?

Well, yes, and that’s so obvious to the rest of the sports memorabilia world that Nike was beaten to the punch years ago.

From THE HOOP DOCTORS, the lawsuit you had to know was coming:

Boston, MA, June 24, 2009 ­ SportsFuzion, Inc., a sportswear company and the exclusive licensee of the Basketball Hall of Fame¹s sportswear has filed a lawsuit in Norfolk Superior Court in Massachusetts against NIKE, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) and the NBA Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame alleging breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, fraud, and other counts for general and punitive damages. The lawsuit comes after NIKE and the Hall of Fame conspired to eliminate SportsFuzion by manufacturing, marketing, and selling sportswear related to Michael Jordan¹s upcoming Hall of Fame induction. Since 2006, SportsFuzion has been the owner of the exclusive worldwide rights to the Hall of Fame¹s trade names, logos, trademarks, designs, and photos for use in sportswear.

That? would be a problem for Nike, especially since, as the press release about the lawsuit continues to state, Nike is expected to hit about $100 million in sales in Jordan HOF products. To say there’s some money on the table would be a serious understatement. But unlike Nike, SportsFuzion (who, let’s be honest, deserve to lose the lawsuit based solely on that stupid “creative” spelling in their name) isn’t exactly a very well-known company, and they probably can’t capitalize nearly as well on the Hall of Fame brand as Nike could (especially with MJ under contract with Nike). Perhaps that’s for the good of the sport, but it’s not good for business.

Perhaps it gets settled out of court, and (sigh) SportsFuzion decides to share the rights for a tidy, eight-figure sum. Perhaps. What we don’t expect is Nike to take the suit to court and win straight away. Why’s that, you ask (emphasis ours, as always)?

SportsFuzion, Inc. is a Massachusetts-based sportswear company that owns the exclusive worldwide rights to the Basketball Hall of Fame’s trade names, logos, trademarks, designs, and photos for use in sportswear. SportsFuzion is represented in this matter by Fish & Richardson, the largest intellectual property law firm in the world.

Yeah. Best of luck with that, Nike.