This is a really stupid reaction by the Collegiate Licensing Company. Simply notify the schools that you will require a licensing fee of $1 per year for them to continue to be Gators. This would protect their trademark. There is no profit in this action for the university. There is a potential high cost in bad will.
Can someone get this idea to the AA or whomever contracts with the Collegiate Licensing Company? Jerry From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Shane Ford Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 9:11 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: UF takes on high schools to protect logo --- 9/21 23:01 --- [Crabbe] UF takes on high schools to protect logo The school says it has to defend its logo or risk losing the trademark. By Nathan Crabbe <mailto:[email protected]> Gainesville SUN Staff writer Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 6:45 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 11:01 p.m. Glades Day School takes pride in its identity as the Gators, slapping the gator head logo on everything from athletic uniforms to its gym floor. Image removed by sender. <http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100921/ARTICLES/100929908/1118?p=all&t c=pgall##> Click to enlarge >From the University of Florida Athletic Association Image removed by sender. <http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100921/ARTICLES/100929908/1118?p=all&t c=pgall##> Click to enlarge Glades Day School logo But because of efforts by University of Florida representatives, the tiny Belle Glade school will have to spend as much as $60,000 to remove the logo over the next five years. This year, the licensing company representing UF has sent cease-and-desist letters to at least four schools with logos similar to the university's trademarked gator head. Robert Egley, head of Glades Day School, said school officials decided it wasn't worth a legal battle even though the school's colors are green and gold rather than orange and blue. "It upsets us and it bothers us that they would come after schools," he said. "We just don't have the money or the time to fight this battle." The letters were sent by the Collegiate Licensing Company, the oldest and largest collegiate licensing agency that represents UF and nearly 200 other colleges and universities. The crackdown comes as company officials have expressed concerns that high schools will license products that feature their logos, confusing consumers. UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said universities have a legal obligation to defend their trademarks or risk losing them. "Legally, you don't get to keep it if you don't defend it," she said. In addition to Glades Day, a licensing company attorney sent letters this year over use of the logo to Palm Beach Gardens Community High School in Florida, Ola High School in Arkansas and Vicksburg High School in Mississippi. Palm Beach Gardens Athletic Director Bill Weed said the school, called the Gators, has the same logo and orange and blue colors as UF. Like Glades High, changing the logo at Palm Beach Gardens would mean altering the gym floor and signs across the school. Weed said the school board and its attorneys are still deciding what to do next. Although there is no documentation of the agreement, Weed said the school's principal received the blessing of the UF president to become the Gators in 1969. "It's silly to start going after people now," he said. Under trademark law, universities essentially have a legal obligation to police the use of their marks, said Elizabeth Rowe, associate professor of law and director of the program in intellectual property law at UF. Failing to do so could mean giving up the right to stop unauthorized uses, she said. The issue is becoming more significant as college football becomes increasingly lucrative, she said. But she said the issue is somewhat different when dealing with high schools that might send students to the universities. "With sports you have the argument, 'We're using the mark to support you,' " she said. Florida State University has sent a cease-and-desist notice over the use of an orange-and-blue Seminole logo to Southeast High School in Bradenton, a school that has sent students and athletes there including former football star Peter Warrick. School District of Manatee County attorney John Bowen said he believes the school has a strong case in defending a logo that differs by using UF's colors. "No self-respecting Seminole fan would buy an orange-and-blue Seminole head," he said. Glades Day School has the colors green and gold, so Egley also said there's little chance of customer confusion. He said the school, which has about 400 students in grades K-12, makes a nominal amount of money on the logo through the sale of shirts and hats to students and school supporters. "We're going to make that money whether we put Bugs Bunny on there or the gator head logo," he said. The school has submitted a plan to phase out the use of the logo by 2015. Egley said it is expected to cost $50,000 to $60,000 for work that includes redoing the gym floor, replacing panels in the football field bleachers and painting the field scoreboard. Uniforms will rotate out over the next few years. Sikes said the university is giving schools the opportunity to phase out use of their logos over several years. "We're not telling anyone to throw away their uniforms ... When their uniforms wear out in normal fashion, we expect their uniforms to be replaced," she said. But Bowen questioned whether threatening legal action against schools that are part of the same state education system is the best course of action. "It would be like Coke suing Coke Zero," he said. Contact Nathan Crabbe at 338-3176 or [email protected]. -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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