Fifth Circuit Ruling in School Colors Case Favors Universities
Universities represented by Pirkey Barber LLP won broader trademark protection for their school colors in a major decision released late Tuesday by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The dispute pitted LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, and the Collegiate Licensing Company against Tampa, Florida T-shirt company Smack Apparel. The universities sued Smack over its sales of unlicensed shirts that used their school colors along with other references to the schools' football teams. Austin, Texas law firm Pirkey Barber, one of the nation's few firms specializing exclusively in trademark law, represented 28 other universities who supported the plaintiffs' position as amici curiae ("friends of the court") on appeal.