Brands ‘Avoid Danger’ After Penn State Trademark Ruling

On November 20, a jury at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania ruled that retailer Vintage Brand infringed trademarks belonging to The Pennsylvania State University by selling merchandise with “Penn State” logos affixed. As a result, the university was awarded $28,000 in damages. This is the first time a university suing the retailer has gone to trial and the ruling has the potential to help firms enforce clients’ marks against companies.

Sterne Kessler Director and head of the Trademark & Brand Protection Practice Monica Riva Talley says this could give more teeth to takedown requests. She argues that many print-on-demand platforms give a lot of “leeway” to merchants selling on those websites. “If you don’t have an exact registration for that exact version, you can have challenges taking it down. This should help in that regard,” she says.