[SuperJon]

I heard today that Lehigh was suing us for using LU. They supposedly have LU copyrighted or something like that. Anyone know if this is true?

[LUconn]

I seriously hope so because that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. But I doubt it. There are other LUs too. Remember how there's another LU Flames? Also there's things like USC etc. I don't think an acronym is trademarkable.

[SuperJon]

What I was told was it's because we came out with the branding identity. We have to refer to ourselves as Liberty University, not LU. Like I said, I heard it as a rumor, it could very well be untrue.

[LUconn]

I do a google news search on "Liberty University" everyday, (like Sly does I think) and I didn't see anything about that. And if it were true, I would think somebody would have written an article about it. You're in school. Use their Lexus-Nexus. That would definatly have your answer.

[TallyW]

I would say that this is next to impossible. Let me clarify.... it's possible to sue for ANYTHING. If you file the papers and the $70 processing fee... anyone can be sued. It's next to impossible that they'd win.

Typically in a trademark case there has to be one of two things:
1. The branding is so similar that someone could confuse your product with theirs. More goes into this than "LU". As mentioned, there are many Universities with identical lettering and they all use it for a profit. Other criteria are used besides the letters such as colors, font, etc.





Lehigh obviously does not look like us at all. In fact, the branding guide may actually go against them because it clearly lists our color scheme and we share no common color.

2. The only other way would be if you have a similar name within a state. The first person to own the rights to the name in that area gets rights to it. In addition for both of these, someone would have to show that LU is getting money or accolades as a result of this infringement. I can't even consider with a straight face that anyone would get Liberty confused with lehigh.

So... yeah... we may be getting sued... but they won't have a chance. This thread would be good for our friend from the VHSL thread who tells us not to go to court over anything

[LUconn]

according to the logo above, they dont even go by LU. It certainly looks like "L" to me. I think you should punch whoever told you this right in the back of the head.

On a side note, Mountain Hawk is a cool nickname.

[phoenix]

I seriously hope so because that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. But I doubt it. There are other LUs too. Remember how there's another LU Flames? Also there's things like USC etc. I don't think an acronym is trademarkable.

I didn't believe that there was another LU Flames. I'm sorry -- I should have believed you.

http://www.goleeflames.com/

They seem to call themselves the Lee Flames. Of course, we're the Liberty Flames, so there you go. But yes, there is another LU Flames. Go figure.