High schools in Florida could soon find themselves battling against universities for the right to hold onto their names and mascots.
Following a high-profile case in which Salem High and Memorial Middle School were forced to give up their Seminoles logos after a legal challenge by Florida State University (FSU), it appears the trademark dispute floodgates have been opened.
Liz Maryanski, interim vice-president for university relations at FSU, told ajc.com: “If we do not protect the trademark, someone could deface our logo and there’s not a thing we could do about it.”
The university has also approached two Palm Beach high schools, claiming they have misappropriated its branding.
However, Ms. Maryanski claimed that any schools forced to change their logos would not lose out financially as a result of the action.
“We let [the Rockdale County Board of Education] set the timelines,” she told the news provider.
Recently, World Trademark Review reported that many in-house legal departments are increasingly worried about trademark protection in the digital realm.