Colors Pass the Trademark
A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled in favor of universities and their argument that school color schemes qualify as standalone trademarks. The court found that Smack Apparel Co. violated international trademark infringement laws when it used “recognizable and historic colors” of several national universities without their consent, even when the name of the school or the name of the team did not appear on the product. The lawsuit was brought by the Collegiate Licensing Co., Louisiana State University, Ohio State University, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Southern California.
