BUCKEYE STATE SHIRTS now available

[psax889906]

We have a lot of football between now and 2012, but I like our chances. I expect we go in to the game with confidence. If our programs stay on the same level - it will be a show down of two ranked team. It will be a huge news story. College game day will probably show up.

I hesitate to agree with your statement about Brian Kelly. BK is an exceptional coach. I want him to be at UC till he retires. I think amazing things could be ahead for us if he stays.

Mark Dantonio is a competent coach. He left here to take a program with better infrastructure, more fans, great tradition, plenty of dollars, etc. BK has done more at UC than MD has done at MSU. Coaching makes a big difference. Look at U of L and see what a change in coaches and and bad hire can do. Or look at WVU, it is not clear how Bill Stewart will ultimately turn out, but I don't think he will have the success of RR.

I agree that the level may not be the same, but, my main point is, I don't see this program ever returning to the depths it once wallowed in, for decades...

[udonkey]

This is now off their web site- great job to catch this.

No prob - I knew it wouldn't have been as big a deal if it were some random 3rd party, but being the UC Bookstore, I had concerns.

Thanks for being so prompt to fixing it. If you didn't read/post here, I would've had no clue how to bring it to someone's attention.

[Bearcat_DF]

UC Marketing,

I appreciate the post. Still, I know in Columbus, the colors Scarlet and Gray are licensed by OSU. So I'm pretty sure they are pretty protective of the use of the word Buckeye - since it is their mascot.

So my question to you = did we have to pay them a licensing fee to use the name "Buckeye" and if so, was it a one time fee or is it a percentage of each shirt sold.

It seems to me a precarious place to be - infringing on another school's licensing rights or subsidizing them by paying them a licensing fee.

Know that the radio campaign was in no way conceived, produced or endorsed by UC Athletics. Anyone who lives in Cincinnati and listens to WLW knows that they do this type of thing all the time as part of their INFO-tainment programming.

The logo also was not a direct push towards any other University, as Ohio is known as the BUCKEYE STATE not due to Ohio State Athletics.

The Buckeye State received its nickname because of the many buckeye trees that once covered its hills and plains.

But that's only partly the reason. We have to go back to the feverish presidential campaign of 1840 for the rest of it.

William Henry Harrison, a Virginia-born Ohioan and military hero, was a candidate for the White House, but his opponents commented that he was better suited to sit in a log cabin and drink hard cider.

Some of Harrison's leading supporters, who were experts in promotional know-how, decided to turn into a positive reference what was supposed to be a negative one.

They dubbed him "the log cabin candidate," and chose as his campaign emblem a log cabin made of buckeye timbers, with a long string of buckeyes decorating its walls. Furthermore, in parades, his backers walked with buckeye canes and rolled whisky barrels.

The campaign gimmicks were successful. "Old Tippecanoe," as Harrison was often called, beat President Martin Van Buren in the latter's bid for re-election, and thereafter the buckeye was closely associated with the state of Ohio.

In as much as William Henry Harrison settled in Hamilton County, this reference has true roots in the Cincinnati Area, more so than any other part of the state.

Thus, highlighting the UC in BUCKEYE and the word STATE should reflect pride in UC and in the overall STATE. There are room for two teams in a state... all is well!

We entertain, and educate , or at least try to. It has been fun watching so many people get so excited about this all. In the end it is all about making money for the UC Licensing Program which gets a portion of the proceeds from every shirt sold.

THE CONTENT ABOVE IS WRITTEN TONGUE IN CHEEK, WITH HUMOR AS THE INTENT. SMILE - WINK - GAHAW

[RedRocker]

UC Marketing,

I appreciate the post. Still, I know in Columbus, the colors Scarlet and Gray are licensed by OSU. So I'm pretty sure they are pretty protective of the use of the word Buckeye - since it is their mascot.

So my question to you = did we have to pay them a licensing fee to use the name "Buckeye" and if so, was it a one time fee or is it a percentage of each shirt sold.

It seems to me a precarious place to be - infringing on another school's licensing rights or subsidizing them by paying them a licensing fee.

Huh? Are you serious?

First, buckeye trees existed long before OSU did and the State of Ohio is the Buckeye state because of the tree and the buckeye "nut" that comes from it, not from "The Ohio State Buckeyes".

Second, Brutus Buckeye is the mascot.

Third, the term "Buckeye" is a homogenous term which cannot be licensed or trademarked nor can the colors be licensed or trademaked alone. The colors can be trademarked in conjunction with the term "Ohio State Buckeyes".

I know you don't like the "BUCkeye State" t-shirt, but others do.

And before you ask. No, I'm not a patent and trademark attorney, but I have worked a couple of each through the USPTO with attorneys so I know what you can and can't do and say.

[Bearcat_DF]

Yeah, I am serious; so is the US Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit.

"University colors are firmly ensconced in the cultures of many institutions, particularly those whose sports teams have long and successful histories as unifying forces for students and alumni. Think Carolina Blue for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Texas at Austin's burnt orange, the the University of Michigan's maize and blue. But it's a big leap from cultural icon to legal trademark, isn't it?

Not as big as it once was, thanks to a federal appeals court decision issued last week. On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit -- ruling in a case involving an apparel manufacturer that made T-shirts that incorporated the colors but not the names or logos of major college football programs -- declared that the use of "color schemes along with other indicia" that have come to be strongly associated with a university can be enough to trigger a finding of trademark violation when they create a "a probability of confusion" in the mind of consumers." . . .

. . . "The three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit appeals court took very much the same stance as the lower court. In their ruling, the judges laid out the two major criteria the universities had to meet to prove trademark infringement: to "establish ownership in a legally protectible mark," and to "show infringement by demonstrating a likelihood of confusion" between Smack's apparel and the universities' own products."


http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/12/01/trademark



Reading the article about the case, UC is likely not infringing on OSU's rights because even though OSU could make a claim they own the word "Buckeye", the shirts clearly do not confuse anyone.

[Pruke]

personally i thought it was a little amateur-ish. it kind of reinforces the whole perception of UC fans being insecure. there are two great programs in this state right now. Until we prove we can sustain success after graduation classes leave, it is premature.

Give me a break

[shaunsimpson]

OSU is trying to get Bud Light to stop making the scarlet and grey cans because of licencing, but I imagine that the word Buckeye when refering to the state and not the university without osu colors would be tough to get legal action again.

There is obvious demand for the shirt and I see the "BUCkeye State" on a lot of facebook sites. Living in columbus I can see why. OSU fans can be arrogant unhappy people.

Just watch out for the thin line where we are having fun and where we are turning into arrogant fans with expectations so high they they don't enjoy the ride.

[bearcatd]

I'm going to repeat something I wrote in another post.

I'm fine with the shirt if a smart-a$$ student came up with it and the student section started wearing them. But for it to be an adidas shirt and university backed, it seems to recognize a little bro mentality by the school. It's fine when a 21 year old is a smart-a$$, not when the whole athletic department is (I am a UC fan for the record...and this doesn't change it...and I'm not calling for anyone's head. Just my opinion.)

On the other hand, if UC were to buy a couple billboards with the Buckeye State up in Columbus, say...right on OSU's campus, I think it would be hilarious. Or better yet, just a billboard with the Bearcat eyes looking right at Tressle's office. That would be funny. Just a thought. They would definitely show that on Gameday. Even better yet - you know how Wazzu always has a flag on College Gameday. If UC bought a Bearcat-eyes billboard on every campus that hosts College Gameday, how sweet would that be!?

UCMarketing????

[aronius]

Big fan of the shirts. People are reading too much into this. I like them because it's always assumed that living in Ohio = suckeye fan. Not so. I'll buy 2 today.

[RedRocker]

OSU is trying to get Bud Light to stop making the scarlet and grey cans because of licencing, but I imagine that the word Buckeye when refering to the state and not the university without osu colors would be tough to get legal action again.

Exactly my point.

[udonkey]

I stopped by Dubois after the game to buy one for a friend living in Florida and they were sold out, expecting more on Friday.

Definitely a nice little shot in the arm to UC's licensing $.