Cornflower blue is not taken……tm-pollard
I’d be willing to believe that the NFL or the Adams would fight against the use of those colors or slogan being used to sell merchandise for another football team.
might be worth the press it would generate
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Sure but I can’t see how they would have a case if no one is confused. The apparel is clearly UH stuff. It might not be worth the PR issues they would have to try that as well as the bar might be too high for them to win.
Also I’ve seen Luv Ya Coogs shirts before in the past but just red and white, not Columbia blue.
The NFL has lost to colleges in the past.
Remember the hullabaloo (pun intended) on “Twelfth Man” between the Seattle Seahawks and Texas A&M. A&M won that battle.
Different situation, I know, but if the facts support you, it is not a slam dunk for the NFL.
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Where’s @uhlaw97 when you need him
We were smart to tie it to the city - like the color on the city flag and the HPD colors. We actually had the police cars on display so that it appeared to be broader than just the Oilers.
https://x.com/joseph_duarte/status/1698078600790958379?s=46&t=9c-IOoafC-k6OPOiGCPThg
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Actually, there are cases like this one:
Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co. - Wikipedia.
That say that COLOR ITSELF (Green in that case) can indeed be a trademark, if a color has become so closely associated with a product that it has acquired secondary meaning due to its recognition in a market and association with that product.
If the Adams family really wanted to be jerks, I suppose they could argue that the Oilers’ colors themselves are a trademark, and file a lawsuit on that basis.
Of course, our defense would be that either a) the colors are generic; red, white, and blue are colors used by many teams (I’m sure examples could be found), or alternately that b) the colors are, in fact, derived from the City of Houston crest, police, etc., and that as such, they were not trading on the Oilers’ reputation or identities.
Of course, trademark cases usually require some sort of customer confusion, and to me, it’s a stretch to say that anyone would confuse this product (a college football team) with a pro football team (oilers).
@Lawbert might have an informed opinion on this.
Especially a defunct team.
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Someone told me that Toys R Us won a case against a company called Flowers R Us. I don’t see how it’s the same.
Only thing I can think of is if both used the backwards R or same font.
There’s a multi-factor test for confusion. I’d have to read that case for more detail and see what arguments were made.
Makes sense. The statement about someone from the NFL/Titans interrupting the merch sales was supposedly made by the McNair’s on a local radio show today. I guess it was just an assumption. Hope we can get the merch available soon. This is the type of exposure that helps make a national brand.
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I remember there was a kid who got sued by North Face for making shirts that said South Butt.
Didn’t the Texans start in 2002? Maybe it has something to do with that.
I found a case in Canada with Toys R Us. I can see why they’d win this one. It has the same font and design.
Change the font and color (Luv Ya Blue was in white). Make it different enough it’s not almost an exact copy.
That definitely passes the “substantial similarity” test.
This was mentioned on Houston Roundball Review - Folks Talkin Sports yesterday. They said UH got a call by the NFL because it looked too similar to the Oilers. UH just didn’t do the proper due diligence to make sure they could sell the jerseys.
Did they mention a source? Still sounds like rumor and innuendo to me.
It was also reported by Duarte at the Chronicle. That’s probably where they read about it.
The NFL objected to UH wearing the Oilers-inspired Nike jersey, according to a source. An NFL spokesman declined comment Saturday night. The school has been careful in its promotion of the throwback jerseys, never referring to the Oilers by name and a slight variation from the Columbia blue.
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Luv ya Blue! Was trademarked to the Houston Oilers Dancers Inc., which was the Derrick Dolls. Later the Oilers has to sell the trademark to NFL Properties. They didn’t want teams to brand alternate trademarks on their own.
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