“Chapman High School, whose athletics teams have been known as the Fighting Irish since 1967, has been formally asked by the University of Notre Dame to change its leprechaun logo due to the college’s trademark on the image.” [Yardbarker]
“Chapman High School, whose athletics teams have been known as the Fighting Irish since 1967, has been formally asked by the University of Notre Dame to change its leprechaun logo due to the college’s trademark on the image.” [Yardbarker]
14 Comments
Now let’s ask about Notre Dame using the “Catholic” label…
I have to admit, that highschool’s logo looks really really close to the Notre Dame logo.
Yeah, that looks a little close. A re-imagining of the leprechaun image should suffice. The phrase ‘Fighting Irish’ should never have been given trademark status in the first place. It’s a common enough phrase with a deep enough history that it should have been considered unprotectable.
Before everyone get too excited about this, go read the AP Sports story. This originally occurred in 2006. At that time the high school agreed to have an art contest to design a new mascot. The agreement was that the next time the school bought new uniforms, they would change to the new design. ND contacted the school this year since nothing had been done. It turned out the school had been wrecked by a tornado. So the school is only now holding the contest. The author should have done better research.
re: The Fighting IOrish.
If one doesn’t think of ‘the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame’ but rather simply the fighting Irish, doesn’t that pretty much say “Sure, I’m a bigot.”
Said Chapman High School principal Kevin Suther, from a KWCH-TV report (via USA Today):
“Well when you get a letter from Notre Dame it gets your attention.
“For anything like stationary and school uniforms as long as its Chapman Fighting Irish, we are still the Fighting Irish”, says Suther.
Speaking of fighting Irish, check out the logo of this New York personal injury firm: http://www.fitzinjuryattorneys.com/
The writer of the article and his editor should learn how to spell stationery.
Furthermore, the author should have recognized that under the current state of federal trademark law, if Notre Dame does not demand that some little high school stop using the leprechaun, that act of generosity will come back to bite Notre Dame when it tries to stop some much larger entity from profiting of Notre Dame’s trademark. The next “infringer” will be able to argue that Notre Dame waived or forfeited its rights in the trademark, and we all know there’s no point in expecting a jury to do the right thing.
Just another example of how the current legal landscape benefits lawyers while punishing kindness.
@Frank: Or that one is himself Irish (well, only half) and recognizes truthiness when he sees it.
Why does a college need a trademark other than its name? Seems to me like money and not education is the priority at a school like that.
Given how poorly Notre Dame has played the past several years I’m a bit surprised the high school hasn’t already made the change to a different mascot.
How does a demand letter that the high school stop using the name/logo protect a copyright any more than a demand letter that the high school pay a nominal $1.00 licensing fee to continue using the name and logo? I’m not an expert on copyright law, but it seems that this would avoid the bad press and still protect the copyright.
In that the money raised by trademark licensing and the selling of trademarked goods goes back to the school to some extend further the educational goals of the school, I have no issues with a school trade marketing their logos and images.
They probably don’t want their brand confused for one that can actually play the effing sport. 🙂
And, because I like the irony – Kansas State University’s “powercat” symbol can be licensed by any High School in the US of A for the stunning, exorbitant amount of… One whole dollar per year.
You stay classy, ND.
Isn’t the expression “the fighting Irish” racist? (just imagine if they used a similar label toward native Americans or Africans) Moreover, you have the racist depiction of Irish people as leprechans! No matter who wins here, I see more lawsuits in the future…