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View Full Version : Iowa vs. Southern Miss. Which team is which?



cdj
08-03-2011, 07:33 AM
Patent office tells Southern Miss its logo too similar to Iowa’s - Link (http://hawkcentral.com/2011/08/02/patent-office-tells-southern-miss-its-logo-too-similar-to-iowas/)

:Iowa: vs. :Southern_Miss:

The Golden Eagle logo unveiled by Southern Mississippi nearly nine years ago might be in jeopardy because University of Iowa officials say it’s too similar to their Tiger Hawk emblem — and a three-judge panel agrees.

USM’s trademark application was denied last week by judges in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, who ruled 2-1 in favor of Iowa.

The ruling has left USM’s attorneys scouring the 54-page decision.

“Our attorneys are reviewing the decision by the judges,” USM athletic director Richard Giannini said Tuesday. “Until we have their review, we’re not really going to comment on it.”

Jason Bush, an attorney with Baker Donelson in Jackson, said USM could appeal the decision, which was made by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.

“In the alternative,” wrote Bush in an email, “USM has the option of presenting additional evidence or raising additional claims in the United States District Court in any district venue that is proper.”

Giannini and other USM officials have long argued that the logos bare little resemblance.

USM unveiled its new Golden Eagle logo in January 2003 in an overhaul of the athletic department’s brand — and it quickly became part of the school’s athletic identity.

The eagle head logo is painted on the artificial turf at M.M. Roberts Stadium and on the basketball court at Reed Green Coliseum.

It’s on the pants worn by USM football players and on USM shirts, hats, jackets, pants and other items sold throughout the state.

The logo was created by USM graduate Rodney Richardson, who owns RARE Design, a graphic design firm based in Hattiesburg.

In 2004, Iowa officials argued that the two images were confusingly similar.

Last week, Iowa got two out of three judges to concur.

Administrative trademark judge David Bucher wrote in his majority opinion that he backed Iowa’s claim that there would be “the likelihood of confusion” in merchandise sales between the schools.

Bucher describes the argument that USM made to point out differences between the two logos:

“Specifically, (USM) argues that each of the Iowa Hawkeyes marks is a collection of four separate silhouette shapes put together in close proximity creating a two dimensional image that is then displayed against backgrounds of changing colors. (USM) suggests that each Iowa Hawkeyes mark has the simplicity of a stenciled or stamped image. By contrast, Southern Miss argues that its new eagle head is more complex, having the “fierce eyed gaze of independence” and the “black peak of the beak” to create a “symbol of courage and power, reminiscent of Roman soldiers … going into battle [with] a crimson banner with a golden eagle emblazoned on the banner.”

Bucher wrote that he found fault in USM’s argument:

“The overall similarity in appearance of the marks on the goods, particularly in light of the use of identical color schemes, creates virtually identical commercial impressions.”

USM made the case that the use of birds of prey as mascots is prevalent in college sports along with the use of bird heads as logos. USM submitted several examples to back its claim.

Bucher also shot down that argument: “When making a visual comparison between Iowa’s Hawkeyes marks and each of these designs, we find that none of these Division I third-party marks remotely resembles Iowa’s Hawkeyes designs. Certainly, none is as similar to Iowa’s marks as is (USM’s) mark. Moreover, whether some of these third-party marks (e.g., those having commercial impressions quite distinct from the marks of Iowa and USM) are similar to each other is not relevant to our analysis, and has no bearing on the question of whether the marks in this case are likely to cause confusion.”

In his conclusion, Bucher wrote that he sided with Iowa out of caution and precedent.

The lone dissenter on the board was administrative trademark judge Tom Wellington, who largely supported USM’s case in a brief dissenting opinion.

He wrote that he does not believe there is a likelihood of confusion and that “the parties’ marks may be distinguished as two visually different bird head logos being used in connection with two different sports teams, albeit on the same goods.”

OptionMasta
08-03-2011, 11:15 AM
While the two images share some similarity, I have a hard time siding with Iowa on this one as I don't think they're easily confused. This could just be because I am a big college football fan and could tell the difference quite easily, though.

I wonder if Southern Miss could argue that they've used the mark long enough that it's become legitimate by default and therefore has some protection of its own. This case isn't really about trademark infringement (their application was merely denied 9 years later), so I would doubt that Southern Miss would stop using that mark unless Iowa pressed them on it. I'm not sure if 9 years is long enough to claim the mark has developed a meaning synonymous with their brand.

souljahbill
08-03-2011, 12:18 PM
The only thing they have in common is that they're both yellow bird heads. Iowa's logo is more "abstract" while our logo is a lot more defined and detailed. I'm not mad about this but seriously, NO ONE in Iowa is buying Southern Miss stuff and NO ONE in Mississippi is being Iowa stuff. No one is going to be confused. Dumb suit is dumb.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

cjg225
08-03-2011, 12:27 PM
Ridiculous decision. Completely disagree with the outcome. The color scheme is also not the same. Different shade of yellow == a different color, as far as I'm concerned.

EDIT: Where the hell did the 75 votes for "Too Similar" come from?

Paakaa10
08-03-2011, 01:18 PM
EDIT: Where the hell did the 75 votes for "Too Similar" come from?

Iowa, probably.

baseballplyrmvp
08-04-2011, 08:31 PM
Iowa, probably.

more specifically, the iowa state fans. :D

JBHuskers
08-04-2011, 10:38 PM
I think a certain commish *cough* cdj *cough* jimmy rigged the poll.

souljahbill
08-13-2011, 10:36 AM
What? Since I'm not on my phone right now, I can actually see the poll. I can't believe people can't tell the difference. Are they similar? Yes, but no SOOOO similar that it's confusing. Iowa must not be on TV enough for anyone outside of Iowa to know the difference.

souljahbill
07-21-2012, 03:08 PM
I see in the game, in the matchup screen, we don't rock the bird head anymore, instead using our name as our logo. I'm sure this dumb ass lawsuit is the culprit.

cdj
09-01-2012, 11:08 AM
I see in the game, in the matchup screen, we don't rock the bird head anymore, instead using our name as our logo. I'm sure this dumb ass lawsuit is the culprit.

ESPN is still using the :Southern_Miss2: logo. :dunno:

gschwendt
09-01-2012, 11:12 AM
ESPN is still using the :Southern_Miss2: logo. :dunno:
They also still find occasion to drag up the old ASU headdress logo... though I don't think they've done that this year yet.

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/legacy_images/dawgsports/images/admin/ASU.gif

ram29jackson
09-01-2012, 11:00 PM
They also still find occasion to drag up the old ASU headdress logo... though I don't think they've done that this year yet.

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/legacy_images/dawgsports/images/admin/ASU.gif

suck on that beautiful logo you liberal wussy's