Upside down Horns logo = trademark infringement

[ESPY]

I'm not sure if this has been posted already, but since it's related to UT, I thought "what the heck."

 

By John Maher AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

 

Published: 11:25 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010

 

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As part of the "wear red" frenzy for Saturday's Texas-Nebraska game in Lincoln, one company was selling T-shirts and hoodies to Cornhuskers fans with an ".01" on the back and an inverted longhorn's head on the front.

 

The Red Out Shirts creation marketed by J&S Distributing was either a big hit with fans or took a big hit from the University of Texas. On Tuesday, a website selling the merchandise no longer displayed any pictures, only a terse message that the merchandise was sold out.

 

"That may be their way of responding without responding," said Craig Westemeier, director of UT's trademark licensing. Texas, through the legal department of its licensing partner, the Collegiate Licensing Company, recently informed J&S Distributing that the logo might infringe on a Longhorns trademark.

 

The ":01" refers to the one second placed back on the game clock last year after Texas quarterback Colt McCoy had thrown an incomplete pass out of bounds in the final seconds. That set the stage for a game-winning 46-yard field goal that gave Texas a 13-12 win over Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game.

 

The .01 was not a problem for Texas. The upside-down Longhorn logo was a different story.

 

The Longhorn logo is one of the popular trademarks used by Texas, which now collects more in royalties than any other university. Last year UT became the first school to break the $10 million mark in annual royalties. Anyone who potentially infringes on a UT trademark — from a Mom and Pop store to a big corporation — is likely to hear about it.

 

"It depends on the issue, on how big it is. We have different processes," Westemeier said. "We usually give people time to respond."

 

Westemeier said Texas has not yet received a direct response from J&S.

 

When contacted through its web site e-mail, a J&S representative replied to the American-Statesman, "We are not interested in any interviews."

 

Westemeier said he wasn't sure if the matter would be resolved before Saturday's game.

 

It's not the first time Texas has defended its longhorn logo.

 

Early in 2007, Aggieland Outfitters — which had been selling merchandise for about a decade featuring a "Saw 'Em Off" slogan and a longhorn shorn of its horns — was sued by Texas, charging trademark infringement. In June of that year, the two parties settled; Aggieland Outfitters changed the logo and paid the University of Texas $25,000.

 

"(The University of Texas System) spent so much money trying to work this thing out, and it ultimately came down to two nostrils, a patch of forehead hair and a little money," a spokesman for Aggieland Outfitters said at the time.

 

Aggieland Outfitters still sells merchandise with a revised logo and the same slogan.

 

'It's still very popular," Aggieland store manager Meghann Reynolds said. "We've got T-shirts, hats, dartboards, stuffed animals. We have a little Bevo with its horns sawed off."

 

Seems like an overreaction at first. But, just imagine if the University of Nebraska were in the same situation. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't want anyone infringing on our logo, especially in a defamatory way.

[captain obvious]

Luckily an upside down "N" looks just like a right side up "N." Take that, legal gray areas!

[RazzinGTO]

Stupid. I hope to find me one of these shirts just to spite Texas.

[Husker from Kansas]

so is it ok for ou to have a window decal with an upside down longhorn with ou printed on it?

[billdozer15]

If I was J&S, I would just say the logo is an upside down uterus and their logo (Tejas') is actually an infringement on the female anatomy.

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

so is it ok for ou to have a window decal with an upside down longhorn with ou printed on it?

Some of these OU fans kill me with that. They despise UT and would like nothing more than to see them fail yet they spend thousands of dollars on stuff with the upside logo or Calvin peeing on the UT logo, etc. Quit buying that crap and giving UT money you nimrods!!

[ESPY]

If I was J&S, I would just say the logo is an upside down uterus and their logo (Tejas') is actually an infringement on the female anatomy.

hehe

[GMoose]

INFRINGE THIS TEXAS!!!!

 

 

[Ringer02]

Deal with it texas

[nemajordude]

They might be able to make a case that it's parody or sarcasm or something so it's fair use. Makes sense to me but then again I'm no lawyer. And it would be an expensive fight because according to TU they have all the money.

 

Edit: fixed a spelling "correction". Stupid Android spell checker.

[papersun87]

Luckily an upside down "N" looks just like a right side up "N." Take that, legal gray areas!

Z

[huskermidget]

I highly doubt a court would agree with UT here. In trademark law there is a great deal of deference given to those who are parodying someone/something. Moreover, another principle in trademark law is that the allegedly infringing trademark cause confusion with the original trademark. Here, no one would be confused by the upside down longhorn or the longhorn with broken horns. Its very clear its a symbol trying to poke fun at UT. This is UT trying to scare off what are likely small operators who can't mount a legal defense.

 

I would also add that for all those casual fans that are taking horns and turning them upside down there is absolute no issue whatsoever. You can only be held liable for trademark infringement if you're using the trademark in "commerce," meaning you're making money with it.