Class is in session – it's time for a lesson on the power of licensing your trademarks. With back-to-school in full swing, this week's BL Business Branding newsletter explores the recent lawsuits filed by universities to protect their trademarks and examines what's at stake for schools fighting to maintain control over their intellectual property.
Colleges and universities are branding powerhouses, creating recognizable logos and curated color palettes that appear everywhere from campus dorm rooms to the national stage. Students, alumni, and fans are enthusiastic consumers for higher education programs looking to expand their reach and offer new products featuring the school's branded iconography. With this potential for revenue comes the need to protect their unique assets, and universities are no strangers to litigation to protect their brand.
Recent Lawsuits
- November 2024 – Following a lawsuit filed in June 2021, a jury ruled that Vintage Brands infringed on Penn State University's trademarks by selling unlicensed merchandise featuring the university's name, image, and logos. Penn State was awarded $28,000 in damages, marking a big win for universities attempting to control the products and distributors they partner with.
- February 2025 – Pepperdine University sued Netflix and Warner Bros. for alleged trademark infringement in their series Running Point, which followed a fictional basketball team the university claimed was confusingly similar to its real program, featuring the same name (the Waves) and colors in the show. Although the university failed to halt the show's premiere with a Temporary Restraining Order, it is continuing the lawsuit in opposition to the show.
- August 2025 – Baylor University sued Boston University for copyright infringement, alleging that Boston's BU logo is confusingly similar to Baylor's. Despite reaching an agreement in 1988 on how both universities would be permitted to use the BU initials due to their similarity, Baylor alleges that Boston began violating the agreed-upon usage in 2018 when it featured an interlocking BU initials on licensed merchandise, and continued to expand the violating behavior after ignoring several cease-and-desist letters.
These lawsuits, all filed by major universities in the past 12 months, highlight how important it is for businesses holding valuable brands to monitor and enforce their exclusive rights to their intellectual property. With most of these lawsuits still in active litigation, it's clear that brand protection is a priority for elite schools. With reputations and brand deals on the line, colleges are doing their homework and working to maintain tight control over their intellectual property.
What Can Businesses Learn From This?
The potential revenue that colleges and universities stand to earn from licensing deals and brand partnerships is massive; Nike alone is partnered with over half of Division I FBS football programs and frequently enters into multi-year deals worth millions of dollars. There are also more unique cases of licensing agreements, such as the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the University of Georgia, and West Virginia University recently entering into agreements to create officially licensed craft beers, BaubleBar Inc.'s new Collegiate Collection featuring charms from 12 different universities, and Virginia Tech's recent collaboration with Metallica.
By preserving the value of their trademarks, universities can capitalize on their unique assets and relationships with fans. If their logos and brand identities were to become diluted by unchecked unauthorized use, potential partners would be less inclined to invest in an agreement with a lower value payoff. By actively protecting their marks and litigating against infringement activities, universities maintain the exclusivity surrounding their partnerships, which drives higher-quality licensing deals and bigger payouts for both parties. This kind of proactive behavior serves as an informative model in how companies should be diligent in protecting their brands and intellectual property.
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