Posted: July 14, 2008 5:28:42 pm
Check out this lawsuit KU won against Joe-College.com over T-shirts:
PS - Even though it owes KU $127K, JoeCollege still has this shirt on its homepage:
A federal jury in Topeka decided late this afternoon that a Lawrence T-shirt store infringed on the trademark of the University of Kansas, awarding the university $127,000.
The decision was not a total victory for the university, however.
The award was about a fourth of what KU had sought, and the jury said about three-fourths of the shirts sold by Joe-College.com did not violate any trademark. And some of those shirts have the word “Kansas” on them.
An attorney for Joe-College.com said the store would remain in business.
Jurors had been deliberating about two days. The five women and three men heard several days of testimony in the trial over trademark and licensing.
The University of Kansas contends that Joe-College.com is selling merchandise with words like “Kansas” and “Hawk” on blue T-shirts that infringe on the school’s trademarks. But Joe-College doesn’t believe you can trademark a state’s name or color, and owners say they make sure that customers of the store and Web site know the shirts are not approved or connected to the university.
Cases like this typically don’t go to trial but are settled outside the courtroom. Larry Sinks, one of the owners of Joe-College.com, said a few months ago the university offered him what he called “some stupid settlement.” He said the university was asking for more money than the store has made since it opened in 2006 and that he would have to stop using “Kansas” and “Hawk” on his shirts.
- Story by Laura Bauer, The Kansas City Star
Last edited July 14, 2008 5:35:01 pm
PS - Even though it owes KU $127K, JoeCollege still has this shirt on its homepage:
A federal jury in Topeka decided late this afternoon that a Lawrence T-shirt store infringed on the trademark of the University of Kansas, awarding the university $127,000.
The decision was not a total victory for the university, however.
The award was about a fourth of what KU had sought, and the jury said about three-fourths of the shirts sold by Joe-College.com did not violate any trademark. And some of those shirts have the word “Kansas” on them.
An attorney for Joe-College.com said the store would remain in business.
Jurors had been deliberating about two days. The five women and three men heard several days of testimony in the trial over trademark and licensing.
The University of Kansas contends that Joe-College.com is selling merchandise with words like “Kansas” and “Hawk” on blue T-shirts that infringe on the school’s trademarks. But Joe-College doesn’t believe you can trademark a state’s name or color, and owners say they make sure that customers of the store and Web site know the shirts are not approved or connected to the university.
Cases like this typically don’t go to trial but are settled outside the courtroom. Larry Sinks, one of the owners of Joe-College.com, said a few months ago the university offered him what he called “some stupid settlement.” He said the university was asking for more money than the store has made since it opened in 2006 and that he would have to stop using “Kansas” and “Hawk” on his shirts.
- Story by Laura Bauer, The Kansas City Star
Last edited July 14, 2008 5:35:01 pm
