DC v SU

[orangenauburn]

This school man.

Going to sue DC to keep him from using 44.

How can they claim a number as their own, even if they have used it in sports for decades.

It's a number - one he wore.

I am going to claim the number 5 in blue / white / orange hue and sue the school. Sounds ludicrous right?

Then to sue over my SU life?

Sounds like the school needs "to get a life"

 

[jordville]

 

[jordville]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

If DC can throw a football player out the window of 44's, he should be allowed to use the number.

 

[pfister1]

This school man.

Going to sue DC to keep him from using 44.

Sounds like the school needs "to get a life"

They aren’t going to sue to keep him from using it. They will sue to keep him from using it for profit in a manner likely to cause confusion with its association with SU. I doubt they’d complain if he uses it on a red, white and blue jersey with New Jersey on the front. LOL

 

[Trueblue25]

The hell’s SU using it for?

Let him make some money. Hes been a good advocate for our players and program. He’s not the teddy bear Floyd was but he’s a great orange through and through

 

[Jake]

The University’s trademark/marketing arm has gone way over the top in the past 10 years.

I had a run-in with them a few years ago. It wasn’t worth the fight, but their stance on a matter was absolutely laughable.

The PR loss here is worth more than any potential infringement.

 

[upperdeck]

the issue is by not taking a stance they open it for most anyone to use it going forward.. nothing is stopping DC from making some deal with the school over fair use of the 44..

 

[Eric15]

The University’s trademark/marketing arm has gone way over the top in the past 10 years.

I had a run-in with them a few years ago. It wasn’t worth the fight, but their stance on a matter was absolutely laughable.

The PR loss here is worth more than any potential infringement.

Did SU/Jake Crouthamel sue you for your unauthorized use of the name Jake?

 

[RF2044]

So dumb. And tone deaf about how this will be perceived.

But... the University never fails to disappoint. Just when it seemed like the LeQuint Allen travesty was in the rear view mirror, they gin up another certain PR loss to keep the bad publicity train rollin'.

 

[Orangezoo]

There is not a single ounce of harm this would do to the school and yet here we are..pathetic.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Etan has his next essay topic….

 

[orangenauburn]

There is not a single ounce of harm this would do to the school and yet here we are..pathetic.

Right. In fact it would be free publicity and promoting by a proud former player (star) who has publicly supported the school.and program for decades

 

[Day2]

 

[Day2]

 

[Day2]

 

[BigNastyJon]

This sounds like an issue a special assistant to the athletic director could step in and fix.

 

[CU44SE]

Typical Syracuse. Retire the number to never use again. Former player that always says good things and publicity for Syracuse. Let’s go cause a problem. They continue to fall all over themselves to make dumber and dumber headlines. But please, continue to tell me how the people in high ranking positions are the right people.

It would be one thing if we were actually utilizing the number. But no, we decided to retire it to get a big crowd in the worst decade of Syracuse Football ever. Let’s get rid of years and years of tradition for a quick buck!!! Yes I’m aware this was a different administration.

 

[kcsu]

the issue is by not taking a stance they open it for most anyone to use it going forward.. nothing is stopping DC from making some deal with the school over fair use of the 44..

Love DC but im with SU on this one

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I am not an expert on this, though some here are: if they don’t defend unlicensed usage, they can lose the ability to ever defend any unlicensed usage.
An agreement on usage will likely be made.

 

[Cusefan0307]

SU’s lawyers do the worst lawyering ever.

 

[IthacaMatt]

This school man.

Going to sue DC to keep him from using 44.

How can they claim a number as their own, even if they have used it in sports for decades.

It's a number - one he wore.

I am going to claim the number 5 in blue / white / orange hue and sue the school. Sounds ludicrous right?

Then to sue over my SU life?

Sounds like the school needs "to get a life"

SU's trademark lawyers, led by George McGuire at Bond Schoeneck, have taken some really douchey positions against business owners over the years; real over-reach, like the university owns the name of the City itself.

 

[Jake]

the issue is by not taking a stance they open it for most anyone to use it going forward.. nothing is stopping DC from making some deal with the school over fair use of the 44..

I get it, if the matter at hand is Otto, or something completely specific to the university. But the #44 has been around longer than the school. So has the color Orange.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I am not an expert on this, though some here are: if they don’t defend unlicensed usage, they can lose the ability to ever defend any unlicensed usage.
An agreement on usage will likely be made.

Who's to say that DC, as a famous 44 (like Wallace, or the football Gods) doesn't have "secondary meaning" in the number 44 himself, for his own fame for wearing the number? He was a number 1 draft pick, Rookie of the Year, and played on the Dream Team.

Does SU even having a federally registered trademark in the number foreclose anyone's rights to use the number? Secondary use provisions of trademark law would say "no".

 

[IthacaMatt]

the issue is by not taking a stance they open it for most anyone to use it going forward.. nothing is stopping DC from making some deal with the school over fair use of the 44..

Ordinarily, I would agree with this.

But just like Jackie Robinson is known as "42" in baseball. It was a rookie number given to him as an insult, and he kept it his whole career, as motivation.

Players can develop "secondary meaning" in a mark that elevates an otherwise unprotectable mark into something protectable, if the public knows that person (or company) for that name, that phrase, or that number. For instance, certain players are so closely associated with a certain number in the mind of the public that they are entitled to make use an otherwise merely descriptive mark (e.g., a number) as to warrant fair use, and even their own protection in the mark.

Like Michael Jordan could probably file a trademark in the number 23, rendered in the style of his old jerseys, because of secondary meaning. And even if the mark wouldn't issue because the USPTO ruled that it belonged to the Bulls, he could probably use it as fair use in certain ways.