Boise State University has The Blue, its distinctive blue turf football field, which is now covered by a federal trademark registration. Eastern Washington University now has a red synthetic surface for football.
The University of Oregon is preparing to take the idea of a distinctive playing surface indoors. The soon-to-open Matthew Knight Arena, the new home of Ducks basketball, is painted to give the impression that the viewer is looking up through a grove of trees.
On the one hand, the whole thing doesn’t exactly say, “ducks!,” although the duck is the official mascot of the University of Oregon. On the other hand, who cares? Blue doesn’t exactly say “bronco,” the official mascot of Boise State. Out with tradition and convention (WWNS?, or What Would Naismith Say?); in with distinctiveness and branding. There’s a whole slew of trademark registrations there, just waiting to happen. Plus, there’s this:
Have you guys ever seen a flock of ducks flying in perfect formation? It’s beautiful. Pretty awesome the way they all stick together. Ducks never say die. Ever seen a duck fight? No way. Why? Because the other animals are afraid. They know that if they mess with one duck, they gotta deal with the whole flock.
Interesting post!
Its’ funny how domains are not seen as trademarks, but when there is a domain dispute, it’s ALWAYS about a trademark infringement. I know, domains are not trademarks, however it’s time that trademark lawyers take them seriously, and include them in their brand protection recommendations.
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