NOVEMBER 13, 2024 | written by STEVE ULRICH

News and notes on the largest and best Division in the NCAA. #whyD3
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🗞️ A Trademark Trial That Could Rock the Sports Licensing World
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TOP STORY
1. A Trademark Trial That Could Rock the Sports Licensing World

by Michael McCann, Sportico

“Jury selection for a trademark trial pitting Penn State against Vintage Brand - an online retailer of vintage T-shirts, throwback hats, retro tees, socks, magnets, koozies, mugs, cutting boards and similar products associated with sports teams - begins this Tuesday in a federal district court in Williamsport (Pa.).

The sports world will be watching. At stake is whether teams’ imagery can be used without consent to create unlicensed products. But also at play is whether teams can exclude others from using historical memorabilia that, as relics of history, are already in the public domain.”

» Court Awareness. “In 2021, Penn State sued Vintage for acting as a so-called “serial infringer” by selling “counterfeit Penn State-branding clothing and accessories” without the school’s permission. Purdue, Arizona, Arizona State, Cal Berkeley, UCLA, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, USC, Stanford, Utah, Washington and Washington State have also filed suit against Vintage and raised the same basic grievance. They have accused the company of blatantly using schools’ trademarks without permission to generate sales.”

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