Gators, Noles Take Teams To School Over Logos

 The University of Florida is chomping mad. And Florida State is on the warpath.  The focus of their aggression? High school athletic departments the universities believe are infringing upon their Gator and Seminole logos.

Last week, Florida sent letters to two schools in Palm Beach County – both nicknamed the Gators – informing them they must change their logos because of trademark violations.

In August, Florida State contacted Southeast High School in Bradenton – the Seminoles – for the same reason.

Springfield Wildcat archives on school trademark disputes here.

 

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When I was interviewed for this article in Athletic Management magazine several years ago, about a trademark dispute between a college and a high schooil using the same team name, I had made the point that we were going to see more high school/college name disputes because, unlike twenty years ago where high school athletics were in effect, small, single-site business not in interstate commerce, media such as regional sports TV networks and the Internet were putting high schools into interstate commerce. Thus we would see more overlap between high school, college and even professional team names, and therefire more naming conflicts Upon re-reading this article I see that the author saw fit to leave that insight out, so cancel my subscription.
Today’s NY Times reports on “Marketers Joining the Varsity” noting a surge of marketing dollars into the high school athletics market, which further erodes any ‘branding’ distinction between the high school, collegiate and professional sports markets. One result of this mega-sports licensing market will be more conflicts, and another will be ‘inherited’ dilution, as many Lions, Tigers and Bears will now encounter other teams who have been using the same names as them, some for decades or longer.

LA Daily News: Crying Foul:
“When those who run the Simi Youth Baseball League decided recently to go with college uniforms instead of those of the pros, they thought they were standing on principle.
. . .
But their attempt drifted into foul territory. Because they never got permission to use the college names and logos, the league and the company that provided the uniforms could come under fire from those schools – USC, UCLA and Pepperdine University among them.”

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OK, Springfield Wildcats vs. Shelbyville Wildcats is a gag from The Simpsons, but, as is always the case with The Simpsons, there is a profound truth hinted at here, involving the coexistence of scholastic team names.
The Des Moines Register tells us of a dispute between the University of Wisconsin and the Waukee High School, over the use of a W logo. A couple of years ago I was interviewed by a collegiate licensing magazine and I said many brilliant things about how the Internet and regional sports cable channels, as well as more aggressive scholastic licensing programs, were upsetting the delicate balance that allowed college and high school teams to coexist with similar names without confusion. I have located the article which ran none of that good stuff but merely went with my commonplace quotes (pick a good trademark – great advice).
I can’t remember exactly what I said so I will defer to Madisonian.net for its own proposed rule for college/high school dispute resolution. And btw, their Badger Badger Badger title is a reference to a cartoon as well.