Trademark Infringement | "Ohio State Joins Schools Claiming Trademark Infringement on Apparel, Cookies and Vulgar T-Shirts"

By: MOLLY BLOOM
Source: http://stateimpact.npr.org
Category: Trademark Infringement

Patent Infringement

Ohio State University makes a lot of money selling Ohio t-shirts and other licensed merchandise, $8.9 million last year to be exact. It doesn’t take kindly to private companies trying to get a piece of that action.

This summer, the school sued a Columbus company called Skreened for infringing on its trademarks by selling t-shirts with football coach Urban Meyer’s face on them, among other things. Michael Gallagher, the lawyer representing the company, declined to comment on the case.

Collegiate licensing is a $2.7 billion a year business, according to the Collegiate Licensing Company, one of the largest collegiate licensing agencies in the U.S. And Ohio State isn’t the only school looking out for its assets.

The University of Kansas was awarded $127,000 in 2008 after suing a local company for selling t-shirts that infringed on the school’s trademarks. Earlier this year, West Virginia University successfully sued a company selling t-shirts with the school’s colors and slogans such as “West F***** Virginia” and “I Only Sleep with West Virginia Fans.” In that case, the company agreed to stop selling the shirts but no monetary damages were awarded.

And earlier this month the University of Alabama sent a cease and desist order to a Tuscaloosa, Ala., bakery selling cookies with a red “A” on them. The school claimed the cookies violated the school’s licensing agreement. (The school later backed down and said it would “allow” the bakery to continue to sell the cookies.)

Source: http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2012/08/28/ohio-state-joins-state-schools-claiming-trademark-infringement-on-apparel-cookies-and-vulgar-t-shirts/