The University of South Carolina and the University of Southern California have been battling off the field lately in a dispute over an “interlocking SC” logo used by South Carolina’s baseball team.
S. Carolina has spent more than $376,000 over a seven-year period fighting this losing battle and additional costs could be incurred if South Carolina decides to appeal and take this battle to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The case involves two main issues: Carolina’s attempt to register the SC baseball logo for use on clothing merchandise and its subsequent effort to cancel Southern Cal’s registration of a similar mark.
You may recall, that both attempts were initially denied by the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal board in their ruling last year in favor of Southern California in the eight-year dispute – a decision which was upheld in January 2010 by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Following the court ruling, Carolina has 90 days to make the decision to appeal and fight on.
So is spending $376,000+ worth it? And who can not tell the difference in the two logos?
