Penn State Trademark Case Heads Back To Court

Penn State is taking its fight over collegiate merchandise back to federal court.
The university is appealing a ruling in its trademark infringement case against Vintage Brand LLC, a print-on-demand company that sells college-themed apparel.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will hear the case on September 17.
A jury previously found that Vintage Brand’s Penn State-themed merchandise infringed on the university’s trademarks. A judge also issued an injunction against the defendants.
Penn State is now challenging a lower-court decision that kept its counterfeiting and trademark-dilution claims from the jury. The university said the ruling prevented it from potentially recovering $60 million in damages.
In its appellate brief, Penn State argued that the lower court used an overly narrow interpretation of trademark law when it determined that even exact copies of licensed merchandise could not be considered counterfeit.
Vintage Brand is also appealing the denial of its request for a new trial.
The company argued that the case is about universities attempting to control the use of their names and symbols on merchandise. Vintage also maintained that its products were ornamental and were not copies of Penn State logos or merchandise.
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