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Borderline rediculous
January 23, 2007U.T. got their feelings hurt by Texas A&M this past football season.
Nothing more embarrassing than losing 12-7 to your in-state rival a year after winning the national championship.
But...that's not the tale of the tape, oh no.
Get this...U.T. is suing to eliminate the "Saw-em Off" logo.
The Associated PressCOLLEGE STATION - The University of Texas is countering a jab from an Aggie business owner by taking him to court over his "saw em off" variation of the familiar Longhorn logo.
The UT System Board of Regents claims in its lawsuit that Fadi Kalaouze's merchandise adorned with an inverted Longhorn logo with its horns detached is a trademark infringement.
The lawsuit argues that Kalaouze, a 1991 Texas A&M University graduate and the owner of two College Station stores, is illegally using a design that tarnishes and mutilates the trademarked Longhorn logo.
"This is not a dispute with Texas A&M. It is a dispute with a private company that is unfairly profiting from use of the UT logo and at the same time mutilating the logo," said Craig Westemeirer, director of the University of Texas Office of Trademark Licensing.
Kalaouze contends that his emblem is a parody and is protected by the First Amendment. He said in court filings that the lawsuit is a "legally baseless display of poor sportsmanship."
The lawsuit filed last month names Kalcorp, which is owned by Kalaouze and is the parent company for both of his stores. It seeks a permanent injunction to stop the company from selling the symbol, as well as attorneys fees, damages and the company's profits from selling the emblem.
UT's lawsuit says that the "saw em off" logo, which has been placed on merchandise such as T-shirts and bumper stickers, could confuse consumers because of its similarity to the Longhorn logo.
Kalaouze said nobody would mistake his emblem for the actual Longhorn logo, and he doesn't believe any Longhorn supporters have accidentally purchased one of his shirts or stickers. He has established a Web site -- http://www.sawemoff.com -- to raise money for his legal fight. "We honestly don't believe anyone is confusing this logo with their logo. We have been sawing their horns off for many years," Kalaouze said. "We just want to make sure the tradition lives on." Westemeirer said the UT logo is "one of the most recognized brands in America" and must be protected. "We want to present the logo as a consistent image to the public - that is not possible if others, such as the defendants, modify or mutilate the logo," he said. Mike Huddleston, Texas A&M's vice president for business development, said Texas A&M would likely have taken similar action if it faced the same scenario as UT. "I'm just surprised it took them so long," Huddleston said.
Funny...they didn't have a problem with for the previous 10 years. It's not a new thing by any means.
Actually...all of the trouble started last year when Texas went and got a big head by winning the national title. Fadi Kalaouze's company made a shirt of support for the longhorns, and that's where the trouble started.
If there are any Aggies who read my blog, here's the website you NEED to check out.
You can even make a donation to their legal fund if you're so inclined.
I'm going to hide my Horn's Down shirt.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 06:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Comments
Jason, love, I applaud you for bringing the attention of your readers to poor t.u.'s plight. Obviously, their little hearts have been sorely abused by big bad A&M's mean ol' t-shirts.
PLEASE! Its a rivalry... A RIVALRY. That's the way it goes. In the old days, the competing schools would try to steal each other's mascots and do them bodily harm, so, I don't think a t-shirt is really all that bad.
On top of which, t.u. has now come out with THIS:
Honestly, how can they point fingers at Aggieland Outfitters and then sell something like this? And the worst of it is, A&M is actually going to rebuke them for it, which is playing right into their hands. Everyone has a right to create satire if they want, which is why neither Aggieland Outfitters nor Rival Wear should be forced to stop making their respective t-shirts, though I admit that I feel that Rival Wear's shirt is far more tactless. The De-Horning of cattle is a commonplace practice used to make cattle safer for the people who work with them. And though the process is not completely harmless to the animal, it doesn't do nearly as much harm as would be done to a collie if you amputated (by saw) all four of its legs. If you want proof, read this: http://www.avma.org/reference/backgrounders/dehorning_cattle_bgnd.asp
I honestly wish that my beloved university would just stay out of this fight. t.u. might stoop to this kind of unsportsman-like behavior, but I believe that A&M should be above such nonsense.
Thanks and Gig 'em,
Kate C.
lol. Interesting opinion. Here's my 2 cents worth.
Ags played well and beat UT this year. Enjoy it - but don't talk too much noise - history tells a different story in this rivalry.
Second, to criticize UT for defending it's abused logo is really stupid after all the stink you raised when Seattle used '12th man'
stfu.
The lawsuit actually did not come about because of the slim win by A&M....(notice I capitalize A&M, who is the poor sport here?) The owner of Aggieland Outfitters was given fair warning two years before the lawsuit was filed to cease and desist (nice fact checking).
