Just some examples: Penn State University (Nittany Lions) asked Buna High School (Cougars) in Texas to stop using an identical logo.
Most disputes take place out of the public eye, as colleges and universities send cease-and-desist letters to high schools over logos and mascots. So mark similarity may have an even greater importance. The remaining factor-similarity of the marks-could therefore have great weight.īut in sports, where unsophisticated consumers are scarce, can likelihood of confusion be shown when two logos are not nearly identical, or two schools are not geographically close? Arguably, extensive travel by collegiate and even high school teams, and nationwide broadcasts of their games, may diminish the mitigating effect of geographical separation. Other factors point in the opposite direction: there usually isn’t any evidence of actual confusion or intentional copying the marks are often separated by large geographical distances, not in close physical proximity and the sports consumer is generally highly sophisticated, thus able to distinguish between similar marks in a crowded sports marketplace.
In the sports context, many of the factors weigh in favor of the plaintiff/senior user: most sports trademarks are usually highly distinctive and therefore strong, and the goods and services (athletic events, and usually also apparel and other gear) of a mark owner and alleged infringer precisely overlap. Rather, their relative weight will be case-specific.ĭisputes over sports logos and other trademarks-more common than over team names-can be evaluated using these factors. The list is not a “score card” to keep track of who wins the most, nor is the conclusion dependent on “bean counting” or on a balancing all factors. No one factor is determinative, though some are more important. the likelihood of expansion of the product lines.the degree of care likely to be exercised by the consumer and.the physical proximity of the goods in the retail marketplace.defendant’s intent in adopting its mark.any evidence of actual consumer confusion.the “proximity” or similarities of the goods or services marked, including a comparison of their marketing channels.the strength of plaintiff’s mark, measured in how distinctive it is.the similarity in the overall impression created by the two marks, often referred to as the “sight, sound, and meaning”.There are several non-exhaustive, non-exclusive factors that go into whether a mark is “likely to confuse”: “Likelihood of confusion” is the key element of trademark infringement. The law gives rights-including the right to exclude others from using marks that are likely to cause confusion as to source, origin, connection, or affiliation-to the first person to use the trademark in interstate commerce. NC State’s weapon is trademark law, which is meant to help consumers differentiate among competing products and services in the marketplace. Each of these schools uses (or-spoiler alert-once used) “Wolfpack” or “Wolf Pack” as a nickname for their sports teams. This has proved to be a problem for other schools, particularly the University of Nevada, Loyola University of New Orleans, and most recently Keuka College. NC State claims to have used the nickname in athletics competitions since 1921.
NC WOLFPACK LOGO TRANSPARENT REGISTRATION
The oldest standard-character registration dates back to the early 1980s and comprises several categories, including apparel and college sports events. The school owns two federal trademark registrations on the word WOLFPACK-known as a “typed drawing” or “standard character” mark-as well as other registrations on designs and logos. North Carolina State University, whose teams are known as the Wolfpack, is the rare case. Yet it is rare to see disputes over ownership of a team name. Add in women’s sports, other major sports like hockey and soccer, semi-pro and minor leagues, high-school teams, and even recreational leagues, and the duplication is pronounced, maybe even unavoidable.
NC WOLFPACK LOGO TRANSPARENT PROFESSIONAL
Repetition is noticeable when considering just professional and collegiate football, baseball, and basketball, where Lions, Tigers, and Bears (and Eagles, Warriors, and Wildcats) proliferate. There is a lot of overlap in sports team names.
0 kommentar(er)
