Issue date: 1/25/07 Section: News

Rival Wear

While the lawsuit filed by the University of Texas against Aggieland Outfitters has gained nationwide media attention, action taken to protect the trademark of a major university is fairly common, said Mike Huddleston, associate vice president for business development at Texas A&M.

In fact, the University is in the process of submitting a cease and desist letter to Rival Wear in Austin, which produces "saw 'em off" T-shirts geared toward the UT fan base, said Huddleston, who oversees A&M's collegiate licensing office.

The shirt features a silhouette of an American Collie, like Reveille, with its legs amputated, over the words "saw 'em off."

The University holds the trademark for an American Collie wearing a blanket with the A&M logo. Because the Rival Wear shirt is more generic than that, getting the company to cease the sale of the shirt "will be a challenge," Huddleston said.

"A letter will be sent to the entity, because the Patent Office requires we pursue this," Huddleston said.

A&M owns the rights to many words, slogans and symbols related to the University.

"I have to protect the University's trademarks, because that's how the public identifies Texas A&M," Huddleston said.

When the collegiate licenses office discovers cases where the trademarks are potentially violated, Huddleston said the process begins with a cease and desist letter being sent to the entity. "99 percent of the time, they comply," he said.

If the violator doesn't comply, however, a lawsuit could be filed.

Huddleston cited A&M's lawsuit against Seattle Seahawks for using the 12th Man as an example of a violator not complying with the letter.

"We wrote the Seattle Seahawks for two years before we had to sue them," he said.

The licenses office pursuing trademark violators is not uncommon.

"The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has specific rules: If they don't have permission, it's a counterfeit product," Hudddleston said. "It's very routine (to pursue); a responsibility of owning a trademark is protecting it."

His office especially pursues those who mutilate University trademarks, he said. And, in Texas, trademark holders can pursue those who sell products "confusingly similar" to the trademarked words or logos - such as in the situation involving UT and Aggieland Outfitters, he said.

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