Trademark Issues with Use of College Names, Logos, Mascots

Trademark Issues with Use of College Names, Logos, Mascots

By Lee Green, J.D.

The Issue
Upon arriving at work one morning, with their to-do lists already filled with dozens of tasks to be completed, their email and voicemail inboxes overflowing with messages to be returned, and not a spare moment anticipated during the busy day ahead, the attorney for a school district and the athletic director for the district’s secondary school – Sports Powerhouse High (SPH) – find hard-copy letters in their incoming mail, both of which when opened reveal the following heading in a large, bold font: “CEASE AND DESIST.”

The letters are from the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), a firm that manages the trademark licensing programs for more than 200 large universities and assists those institutions with brand development, management and protection related to university marks, including sports team nicknames, logos, mascots, colors and other insignia used on apparel and merchandise sold by mark licensees. The letters were sent on behalf of one of CLC’s clients – Big State University (BSU) – after CLC brand enforcement personnel discovered that BSU’s sports nickname, the Broncos, along with its logo, a distinctive, swooping caricature of a horse’s head in the school colors of purple and gold, are being used by Sports Powerhouse High.

The cease-and-desist letter demands the cessation of use by SPH of the BSU nickname and logo. An addendum attached to the letter includes dozens of photographs of various uses of the bronco nickname and logo on the SPH campus, including on signage at the entrance to the driveways leading onto school property, on the outside of the school building, on walls and other surfaces throughout the high school, on the outer façade of its football stadium, on the field turf inside the stadium, on the stadium scoreboard and on signage throughout the stadium.

The addendum also states the nickname and logo are in similar usage in baseball, softball and soccer facilities; and on the walls, scoreboards and hardwood flooring in three SPH gymnasiums. Also included in the addendum are pictures of the BSU nickname and logo on SPH sports uniforms, warmup apparel, football helmets and other athletics equipment and apparel.

One photo is of the school’s mascot on the sideline of a football game – a student inside a custom-made horse costume – and another photo is of a statue of a bucking bronco outside the front doors to the school. Finally, the addendum contains screenshots of the BSU nickname and logo on the SPH website and official social media sites, along with snapshots of the nickname and logo appearing onscreen during broadcasts of SPH sports events online and on local television channels.

The school attorney and the SPH athletic director are surprised and confused by the letter. BSU is located more than 1,000 miles from SPH; the high school has been using the nickname, logo and mascot for more than 50 years with no prior communications during those decades from BSU regarding any alleged infringement; and an Internet search reveals that there are at least a dozen other universities and several hundred high schools nationwide using broncos, mustangs and other horse-related nicknames, logos and mascots.

How can SPH’s nickname, logos and mascot be causing any negative impact whatsoever on the brand of a university halfway across the country? Has any student at SPH or any fan at a SPH sports event ever jumped to the mistaken conclusion that the school is somehow affiliated with BSU? Has any consumer ever purchased an article of SPH-logoed apparel at a local grocery store or at a booster club fundraiser incorrectly thinking it was a BSU-logoed item or was licensed by BSU?

Although a university would certainly seem to have an interest in preventing the sale in its immediate geographic region of counterfeit, unlicensed products bearing marks identical to its own which are being sold for the sole purpose of stealing sales from the college, why would BSU expend time and effort harassing a distant educational institution such as SPH that has no such bad intent? Would BSU actually file a lawsuit against SPH and inflict the costs of litigation on a high school whose mission is focused on the betterment of the lives of young people? Wouldn’t the publicity attendant to such a suit, portraying a large university as a bully harassing a high school, do far more damage to the BSU brand than the incidental use of marks similar to its own by SPH?

Scope of the Issue
In the past five years, a flood of challenges have been made by universities to the use of nicknames, logos, colors, mascots and other insignia by high schools. Cease-and-desist letters have been sent by dozens of colleges to hundreds of school districts across the country, including ones from Penn State University to Buna High School (Texas), the University of Texas at Austin to Gardner Edgerton High School (Kansas), the University of Notre Dame to Cathedral High School (New Mexico), the University of Wisconsin to Woodlands High School (Texas), the University of Michigan to Round Lake High School (Illinois), the University of Arizona to Woodrow Wilson High School (Texas), West Virginia University to Waubonsie Valley High School (Illinois), the University of Florida to Glades Day School (Florida), the University of Pittsburgh to Whitmer High (Ohio), Florida State University to Southeast High School (Florida), Western Michigan University to Barrington High School (Illinois), the University of Missouri to Harrisburg High School (South Dakota), and Georgia Southern University to Freedom High School (Virginia). In some instances, a single university has sent cease-and-desist letters to as many as 50 high schools using nicknames, logos or mascots even remotely similar to those of the college.

The rise in concern by colleges over the use of their trademarks has been attributed to the increased revenues derived by universities from logoed apparel and merchandise, the increased visibility of high school marks on the Internet through school websites and social media, the increased monetization of high school marks through the sales of apparel and merchandise by national retailers and online stores, and the increased number of high school games broadcast nationally, locally and on the Internet and through which school nicknames, logos and mascots are viewed by larger audiences than at any time in the past.

The cost to school districts of responding to a university trademark challenge can be great. In cases where universities are willing to grant licenses to high schools, sometimes for as little as $1 per year with accompanying restrictions on the extent of intellectual property use by the school, the cost of responding to a cease-and-desist letter and negotiating a compromise may total only a few thousand dollars in legal fees. However, when colleges are unwilling to compromise and a school acquiesces to its demands, the process of transitioning from the use of old to redesigned nicknames, logos and mascots, and integrating them into school stationary, websites, signage, facilities, scoreboards, uniforms, equipment and additional forms of display, has been reported by schools to cost up to $100,000. And if a school would refuse to comply with a cease-and-desist letter, the process of fully litigating a trademark challenge could cost a school hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Trademark & Copyright Law
Trademark infringement claims generally are based on one of three legal theories. The first is a “likelihood of confusion” concept – the idea that the infringer, through the use of the senior holder’s marks, creates among consumers confusion over the origin of the goods or services in question. For a university to be successful in establishing such liability against a high school, it must prove that there is a significant likelihood of confusion between its marks and those used by the school being challenged. Applying the criteria used by courts in analyzing such claims (too lengthy of an evaluation to be included herein), it appears unlikely that colleges would prevail against high schools in most such lawsuits.

In fact, despite numerous successful suits against small businesses or individuals selling counterfeit, pirated merchandise bearing university marks, no college has ever attempted to litigate a likelihood-of-confusion trademark case against a school district. Most high schools simply acquiesce to the demands of universities set forth in cease-and-desist letters because of the unequal bargaining power inherent in the risk-reward downside of potentially high-cost litigation.

A second trademark infringement legal theory is a “dilution” concept – the idea that if the senior mark holder fails over time to take action to protect its intellectual property, the marks might become so commonplace as to be considered generic and therefore no longer protectable. Dilution is also premised on the idea that if widespread infringement of famous marks occurs, then the brand value of the famous marks will be diminished in value. Applying the criteria used by courts to evaluate dilution, it appears more likely that a university might succeed against a high school with a dilution argument than with a likelihood-of-confusion claim, although once again, no college has ever attempted to litigate a trademark dilution case against a school.

The third common trademark infringement legal theory is a “tarnishment” concept – the idea that the use of marks by an alleged infringer on inappropriate products or the involvement of the alleged infringer in a scandal of some sort might damage the value of the marks to the senior holder. For instance, if a high school athletics program using the nickname, logo and mascot of a university were to be involved in an incident of hazing, sexual harassment or other misconduct resulting in extensive media coverage, the university might be damaged by association. Again, however, no college has ever attempted to litigate a trademark tarnishment case against a school.

Finally, allegations of trademark infringement often include the related claim of copyright infringement for unlicensed reproduction of the artwork for the design of a logo or mascot. Proof of copyright infringement requires only a showing of access by the infringer to the original, copyrighted work and substantial similarity of the reproduction to the original. Again, however, despite numerous successful copyright suits against small businesses or individuals selling counterfeit, pirated merchandise bearing university-owned artwork, no college has ever attempted to litigate a copyright infringement lawsuit related to logos or mascots against a school district.

Recommendations

• High schools might be best served by, from the outset, choosing nicknames, logos and mascots dissimilar from those being used by universities in their immediate geographic region and even when using typical nicknames (the dozen most common four-year university nicknames in the country – Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs, Panthers, Knights, Lions, Bears, Hawks, Cougars, Pioneers, Warriors and Wildcats – are used by a cumulative 425 colleges), attempt to create highly distinctive logos, mascots and other insignia to differentiate the high school’s designs from possible confusion with any university’s marks.
• High schools might be best served by trademarking their nicknames, logos and mascots, and copyrighting all design-related artwork for logos and mascots. Trademarks are obtained through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ( and copyrights are available through the U.S. Copyright Office administered by the Library of Congress ( Easily navigable, streamlined application processes have been created for both and they are available at low cost (see websites for details).
• High schools might be best served by using the NFHS Licensing Program through the Licensing Resource Group (LRG) to protect their marks and benefit from LRG’s marketing efforts to earn royalties on their marks. Complete information and an easy-to-complete online licensing agreement are available at the LRG website (
• High schools, upon receipt of a cease-and-desist letter from a university, should initially attempt to negotiate with the college for a low-cost license to continue using marks with any accompanying, reasonable limitations on uses that might create a true likelihood of confusion, dilution or tarnishment.
• High schools might be best served, if a university refuses reasonable compromise offers, by engaging legal counsel to evaluate whether under the circumstances, a phase-out plan for old marks and a redesign process to create new marks is the best course of action or whether the likelihood of success by the university in proving likelihood of confusion, dilution, tarnishment and copyright infringement is so low that the preferable course of action might be to refuse the university’s demands to terminate the use of its marks.

School Logo Project

Directions: Currently, our school is having an issue with our school logo as it is extremely similar to that of the University of Miami.

It is the job of your team to answer the following questions and create a new logo for our school.

Background Information: A school district logo is more than something that is badged on everything or the focal point when you are entering the building. It is a symbol of what you stand for. Brand is not something your district owns, but the perception of your community.

A logo is an asset of the district and can support everything it stands for.

It is also important for your logo to play well with all of today’s media and channels. For both the black-and-white, hard-copy paper that gets sent home with students or yourschool district website, your school logo has to sharp and consistent. A solid school district logo design that can be applied effectively to everything can ensure that you have continuity of your school brand.

1. What do you want your logo to represent? Explain in detail.
2. What is your logo’s purpose?This could be your mission, philosophy or other key areas that drive your district. A successful logo uses simple symbols and visually speaks your story. For example, a logo may have hands holding one another if your story is fostering development. Or a logo may use a symbol of a star if your focus is on student achievement. Whatever that story may be, your logo needs to communicate it.
3. Design your logo in color for all to see.A great district logo is not dated and can stand the test of time. A district logo needs to appeal to a broad range to people – students, parents, faculty, staff and the community. Therefore, it is important not to be trendy and communicate to the masses. Be careful not to tie your design around an object that may not be around over time or evolves. For example, you may not want to have a symbol of your building; your district may build a new one down the road. Many school districts may have an old logo that they updated periodically over the years to adapt to the current time.

To make a logo memorable and stand out, it is best to use minimal colors. A logo with too many colors can come off complex and unprofessional. However, there are exceptions to the rule but 2-3 colors typically works best. I’ve seen a lot of nice district logos that utilize multiple colors to tell their story. For example, you may use 4 colors to symbolize diversity, which is an important trait of many school districts.

Due Date: Presentations begin Monday, December 12, 2016

GroupMembers______

RUBRIC

SCHOOL LOGO PROJECT

Criteria / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / Total Points
What the Logo represents / No information is provided. / Information is inaccurate, vague, and/or confusing. / Information given is discussed in detail with few errors. / Information given is discussed in detail with no errors.
The Logo’s purpose / No information is provided. / Information is inaccurate, vague, and/or confusing. / Information given is discussed in detail with few errors. / Information given is discussed in detail with no errors.
Creativity/ Colors/Neatness/Professionalism of the Logo / No information is provided. / Information is inaccurate, vague, and/or confusing. / Information given is discussed in detail with few errors. / Information given is discussed in detail with no errors.
Presentation / Presentation is poor. Not prepared, information is read, and many errors / Presentation is inaccurate, vague, and/or confusing. / Presentation given is discussed in detail with few errors. / Presentation given is discussed in detail with no errors.
Punctuation, Capitalization, Grammar, and Neatness / Errors so severe they detract from meaning / Patterns of errors evident / Few errors / Very few, if any, errors
Total Grade / Total points*5

Notes: