ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 14, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While the winner of the highly anticipated gridiron match-up between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University on Saturday, Oct. 17 remains to be determined, there is a clear victor off the field when it comes to school trademarks, according to Michael Spink, a shareholder in the Ann Arbor office of intellectual property law firm Brinks Gilson & Lione. Spink and his colleague, Briana Emerson, an associate at Brinks, researched each school's registered trademarks in a study earlier this year that analyzed the trend among universities of registering unusual trademarks that are often related to athletics.
"In the rivalry between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, U of M is the clear winner in the trademark competition," Spink said. "MSU has 17 live registrations (including the block S and Spartan helmet), six pending registrations, and eight unregistered trademarks, while U of M has 54 live registrations (including the block M and a word mark for the BIG HOUSE), 12 pending registrations, and 16 non-registered trademarks."
Emerson notes the University of Michigan has trademarks that incorporate the names of its school colors, including "MAIZE RAGE" (US Reg. No. 2683625) and "M GO BLUE" (US Reg. No. 2781716) for both collegiate athletic exhibitions and games. She also offers some other interesting tidbits on the intellectual property and social media happenings of both Big 10 schools:
Amid all the competition, Spink, who blogs and tweets about unusual trademarks @funkymarks, said that the universities in Michigan have not ventured too far into the field of registering non-traditional trademarks. In contrast, he notes that many other universities have.
"For example, the University of Arkansas' famous 'hog call', a distinctive crowd cheering 'Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie! Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie! Woooooooo. Pig. Sooie! Razorbacks!' was registered in 2014 with the trademark office," Spink said. "In overcoming an initial rejection, the University submitted a substitute specimen, along with evidence of continuous and exclusive use for at least five years preceding the application, in order to obtain the trademark registration. Our universities' mutual rival, Ohio State, has registered the silhouette of four people using their arms to spell O-H-I-O, a longstanding tradition of alumni and students."
Spink and Emerson hold degrees from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and Michigan State University (Go Green!) respectively. To view their original report from March 2015 on the trend towards trademarking school colors and other college athletic signs and symbols, visit the Brinks website.
Brinks Gilson & Lione
The attorneys, scientific advisors and patent agents at Brinks Gilson & Lione focus their practice in the field of intellectual property. Brinks is one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the U.S. Clients around the world use Brinks to help them protect and enforce their intellectual property rights. Brinks lawyers provide counseling in all aspects of patent, trademark, unfair competition, trade secret and copyright law. More information is at www.brinksgilson.com.
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