USC Defeats USC

[Dickie Billericay]

Losers.............................................Winners


Now that's responsible journalism.  Not one "trojan" or "gamecock" joke in the entire story...

In USC vs. USC, Supreme Court action favors West Coast
A 13-year trademark battle ends as the high court lets stand a ruling that the 'SC' logo belongs to the University of Southern California, not the University of South Carolina.

By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau
October 4, 2010|7:43 a.m.

WASHINGTON — The University of Southern California shut out the University of South Carolina in the Supreme Court on Monday as the justices let stand a trademark ruling holding that the interlocking letters "SC" are the registered mark of the sports teams based in Los Angeles.

The high court turned down an appeal from USC in Columbia, S.C., which since 1997 has sought to register its own "SC" logo for the sale of sports merchandise.

USC in Los Angeles objected, and a special Trademark Trial and Appeal Board considered the evidence. It concluded that although "real fans" would not be fooled, casual fans might be confused as to whether the sportswear came from the West Coast or the East Coast school.

The federal trademark law forbids the use of identifying marks that are "likely to cause confusion" among consumers.

Lawyers from South Carolina disputed the board's conclusion, but a federal circuit court upheld it in January, and the Supreme Court said it would not hear an appeal in USC vs. USC. The case was among hundreds that were denied a review by the high court on its opening day.

"We are pleased the Supreme Court did the right thing and ended this after 13 years," said Michael Adler, a Los Angeles lawyer for USC. "We'd rather beat them on the football field than fight them in litigation, but if they won this, they could have used this [logo] on any merchandise."

The sale of sports merchandise with collegiate logos is a $3-billion-per-year business, according to estimates provided to the court. Sometimes, there can be confusion when letters such as "UM" or "OU" are used, because they could refer to one of several universities.

In its appeal, South Carolina's lawyers said its "SC" logo had two stylized, curved letters that interlocked. This is in contrast to the blocked letters used by the Los Angeles school. They urged the high court to take up the case to make clear that common marks such as letters could not be trademarked by one seller.

But lawyers for the Los Angeles school argued that its use of "SC" was a nationally known trademark that had been used for selling merchandise for decades. During that era, the university in South Carolina had used "Carolina" or "USC" to advertise its apparel.

"We have always been 'SC,' " Adler said, "and we were there first."

[Martin Eisenstadt]

The sale of sports merchandise with collegiate logos is a $3-billion-per-year business, according to estimates provided to the court.

Three billion dollars........just on logos?   For that kind of money I'm surprised Slippery Rock and Salve Regina weren't suing SRU too.  Although it was probably easier just to get the government to do their dirty work for them.  God forbid any Africans should get their bare black feet in the door of a three billion dollar industry.

Why waste effort and risk jail by selling fake degrees?  Just make up fake college logos and sell sports gear!

Who couldn't do better than this wet chicken?

[WilliamW]

Why waste effort and risk jail by selling fake degrees?  Just make up fake college logos and sell sports gear!

SRU actually had a pretty good logo.  Unfortunately the only example I can find is the one Gollin vandalized with his death threats.  Sure beats that mangy bird from Carolina.



Does Dixie still own that logo, or did the feds steal that from her too?  She could license it to some Chinese clothing manufacturer and make a bunch of money selling it overseas.

[Armando Ramos]

Now that's responsible journalism.  Not one "trojan" or "gamecock" joke in the entire story...

Still the standard against which all sports headlines are measured: