July 23, 2007

"They really shouldn't be that outraged about the shape of that 'W.' Seriously."

Oh, but we are! The shape of the W is extremely valuable to us!

35 comments:

AllenS said...

"You’ll take my W when you pry it from my cold dead fingers!"

Bucky Badger

KCFleming said...

It's curious when a school or business expends more effort to protect the logo of the 'brand' than the brand itself, such as by firing an embarrassing 9-11 Truther teaching Islam.

Easier, I guess. Not unlike voting for anti-flag-burning amendments but voting against funding an immigration wall, or having a merely symbolic sleep-in 'vote against the war' rather than actaully doing something like defunding it.

Another W for style trouncing substance.

hdhouse said...

Property is property Pogo. If you keep you responses to the issue at hand you won't sound so dumb.

Try using the Nike bolt sometime and see how that plays. Or a golden arch or two...they go crazy and rightfully so. Why shouldn't a property that took millions to brand be similarly protected and policed?

Christy said...

Is it that distinctive? The link didn't have the W. Is it as distinctive as the Boston Red Sox B, for example? Or the Niki bolt? (I never knew it was a bolt, but I know the symbol.)

Jennifer said...

I'm pretty sure it's a Nike swoosh. :P

My college was on the other side of this equation - we were using Donald Duck and Disney decided at one point to take that away. It turned out to be a good thing, because the revamped Oregon O is much sleeker (and pairs better with the Nike swoosh!) and better than the fighting duck ever was.

So, get to designing, high school!

Meade said...

Okay but I've got dibs on L and I want to see my royalty payment every time the Badgers post one.

KCFleming said...

Re: "If you keep you responses to the issue at hand you won't sound so dumb."

house, I wrote that I found it surprising how folks spend less time keeping up the brand itself than they do defending threats to the logos, which only symbolize the brand, and are not the brand itself.

The unspoken therefore is that in time, the logo will be meaningless because the property is worthless. A property that took millions to brand should be protected and policed, not just the logo of the property.

The Reading Comprehension portion of the Iowa Basic Skills tests in grade school still haunts you, house, does it not? You still wake up sometimes, don't you? You wake up in the dark and hear the screaming of the exams.

Original Mike said...

"One more W against Michigan last football season and the Badgers probably wouldn't have been stuck in the Capital One Bowl."

Which we won. How'd Michigan do in the Rose Bowl, wise ass?

Palladian said...

Dubya!

Paul said...

I was always partial to this "W":

http://www.kwcw.net/reviews/wp-content/images/AWB.jpg

MadisonMan said...

As a UW alum, and the son of 2 alums, and the grandson of 4 alums, I'm always slightly embarrassed when the UW does this. No one in their right mind (of course, we're talking lawyers here) is going to confuse the logo of West Wherever, TX Hich School with the UW. I think that the lawyers who work attached to the UW have convinced some foolish administrator that the University will lose revenue if someone else has a motion W. Sorry, I don't buy it.

hdhouse said...

madison...there is a huge market for knockoffs using logos and protected property. huge

any big 10 team will guard its logo or look because it is a source of revenue that they sell and protect under contract.

the university has an obligation to police and protect items which it contracts and licenses to others.

KCFleming said...

Re: "the university has an obligation to police and protect..."

They also have the obligation to use discretion. Here, they exhibit what sounds to me to be mostly make-work litigation for the in-house lawyers, and generating bad press for UW Madison, which discredits the 'brand'.

Few rational adults would think some high school knock-off logo meant anything at all about UW Madison, and the U didn't lose a cent from that use. But now they know, the U is a bully.

Great work, guys.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

If you let one 'W squatter' make off with your logo, pretty soon you've got all squatters and no logo.

Any incursion is a legitimate threat.

KCFleming said...

Re: "Any incursion is a legitimate threat."

Ruth Anne,

The Green Bay Packers must disagree; I think they are more rational, and consider incursions possible threats. They have permitted many high school teams to have a similar design, even coloring. The key difference is profit. And last I heard the GBP brand is doing pretty damn well, squatters or no. Fact is, the high school squatters tend to buy GBP stuff because it's easier than making their own. And then they become GBP fans, by the process of the granfaloon.

The Packers seem to pick their battles. High school teams just don't pose the kind of threat faced by, say, Disney from knock-offs. No one confuses Toadbutt Nevada High School with Green Bay, no one except lawyers.

Original Mike said...

Clearly, we need an alphabet with more letters, so that every team can have one of their own.

Anonymous said...

I call bullshit here, Althouse. It's very common for high schools -- particularly the sports teams -- to steal the logos from colleges and and pro teams. My own high school had a football helmet identical to the Chicago Bears.

Were I this high school's lawyer, I'd do everything within my budget to make the University spend its money, and then I'd write some letters and op-eds to Wisconsin papers to try to get local people and politicians to take my side based on the waste of money that the lawsuit is causing, thanks to me.

Original Mike said...

"Were I this high school's lawyer, I'd do everything within my budget to make the University spend its money, ..."

Your advice is that Woodlands High School should challenge the University of Wisconsin to a spending match?

Anonymous said...

No. I'd counter-sue in my own court. It's true that U-Dub can outspend me but I'm just a local lawyer and, if I'm truly offended by the University's officious behavior, I can out-time them. And, while I charge $80 per hour and will work several hours for free, U-Dub's lawyers probably charge much more. Hopefully, I can make them travel, too.

That's the thing about big corporations. That's why they often settle goofy lawsuits brought against them. Of course they can spend the money, but is it really worth it?

Original Mike said...

What are you going to sue them for?

Anonymous said...

Anti-trust. Harassment. Tortious interference. There's a lot of causes of action out there. I don't plan on winning. I just plan on discovering and being in court a lot.

Anonymous said...

P.S.: Anti-trust is an obvious joke. It belongs last in the list.

Original Mike said...

Sounds like a great strategy for you, their lawyer. If I were the Woodlands school board, however, I'd be skeptical of that approach.

Anonymous said...

The Woodlands lawyers are probably being levelheaded and would advise their client that the easiest thing for everybody would be to change the font and unitalicize.

I am fantasizing. And I have a for-the-little-guy complex. But also I think a big, proud University is above this kind of useless behavior.

For a year, they should change their mascot to the Wisconsin is Dumbs.

Original Mike said...

I think a big, proud University is above this kind of useless behavior.

You've never met our Administration, have you?

I have a proposal. We'll play them for it. Winner keeps the logo. (Just kidding, obviously)

Sarah Lee said...

Apparently our wise leaders are just so darned impressed with themselves for coming up with the ground-breaking and edgy new concept of putting the W IN MOTION(!!) that they want to make sure that no one tries to steal any thunder from us by creating an image that is remotely similar. I hope my law school tution doesn't have too much of a hand in paying these yahoos.

Radish said...

to steal the logos from colleges and and pro teams.

Most NCAA schools will license their logo to high schools. For some reason, Iowa has a lot of schools using the Kansas State "powercat" as their wildcat... Most schools don't charge a lot for the usage, and it's less expensive for the HS to order uniforms, bumperstickers, etc when they don't have to use a custom drawing.

The Woodlands is MONEY. They can afford to license the W, even at the normal commercial rate.

Original Mike said...

"The Woodlands is MONEY. They can afford to license the W, even at the normal commercial rate."

7's strategy is lookin' better, though Woodland's sympathy factor may be taking a hit.

KCFleming said...

If you look up the Woodlands High School site, it appears they have already changed the logo. Or else the baseball team has a different logo than does football.

It may in fact be a licensing issue, but the papers don't disclose that if so.

KCFleming said...

Aargh.
baseball team logo

Eli Blake said...

Dang it, I wish that darn U.W. had been so protective of their trademark that they'd sued Bush over it back in 2000. At least a 'W-less Dubya' might have been worth a couple of hundred votes in Florida, no?

hdhouse said...

Seven Machos said...
"I don't plan on winning. I just plan on discovering and being in court a lot."

And there you have the right wing lawyer policy in a nutshell.

hdhouse said...

and POGO...all incursions are threats unless you don't believe in intellectual property (oxymoron for you i'm sure).

High School Team uses the Green Bay Packers "look" exactly. Even take the name "Packers". No harm..its just a high school team.

Merchant in school's home town makes a deal with the HS to sell knockoffs of the high school uniforms, warm up jackets, etc. and they sell out by the ton.

Green Bay Packers licensees of clothing go nuts and sue the Packers for their money back because local Merchant has flooded the market with identical goods without paying the royalty that they had to pay.

Are you saying that the Packers shouldn't protect their property so as to avoid a surefire issue like this?

Are you a cheesehead? Is this the best cheese you got?

KCFleming said...

Re: "Is this the best cheese you got?"
Someone's been listening to the in-house lawyers too much. The sky is falling!

Of course, it's the opposite that usually occurs. The HS is too cheap to sell unlicensed stuff and just buys off the rack GBPacker clothes. But let's say someone does in fact do exactly what you say. The Packers sue when profit is gained from use of their logo and not until then. Up to that point, no harm, no foul. Money lost is harm, so get them then and only then, at a minimum to retain the good will value of the franchise (no one likes a bully, especially a pro team that bullies a high school team).

Message: choose you battles carefully. Heavy handed tactics like yours often backfire. Then the Packers choose smarter lawyers. Folks that go ballistic from the get-go win the battles but lose the war. Not very bright.


BTW hdhouse, are you always this unpleasant, I mean even with clients and such? Do you have any good days where you, you know, cede a point with an adversary? What a drag it must be to work with you or hire you. The bitterness drips off you like hot fudge off a sundae. I have had pleasanter encounters with borderlines.

KCFleming said...

P.S. "all incursions are threats" ...is true only for to lawyers. Some people take it case by case, lest you become the corporate equivalent of the guy on the street who comes out with a shotgun whenever anyone walks on his lawn.

Pretty soon he's isolated, and has no assistance from others when he is in need (and everyone is in need at some point, even companies like football teams.)

More true? "some incursions are threats" and "all incursions are potential threats". Nuance.