OT: USC vs USC trademark lawsuit

Submitted by formerlyanonymous on

A federal circuit court upheld a lower court ruling between Southern Cal and South Carolina today. The courts ruled in favor of Southern Cal owning the rights to any interlocking SC hats, regardless of color or even shape apparently.

That middle hat is also considered infringing upon the SC brand from my understanding. South Carolina will wear it this season despite that infringement, but they will not be able to make any royalties from the sell of said hat. The South Carolina hat has only been around campus a few years now. Previously, they used a gamecock hat, logo below:

I love how the Southern Cal attorney got another jab in at the end of the article, emphasis mine:

Scott Edelman, an attorney representing the Los Angeles university, hailed the ruling as protection of the school's "primary athletic mark" used on team clothing and equipment that brings in significant revenue. Sports logo registrations are not limited to use in team colors, so there was potential for South Carolina merchandise to be mistaken for that of USC, Edelman said.

He also suggested that the letters were more deservedly linked to the Trojans' warrior image than to "a goofy little chicken."

This seems totally ridiculous to me, but it also reminds me of the lawsuit Wisconsin had a few years ago with a high school team.

(HT: Kendall Rogers)