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Trojans take the 'SC' mark from the Gamecocks

By Bill Watkins, Esq.

I'm a Clemson fan, but I do believe that the University of South Carolina was done wrong by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Office ruled that the Gamecocks may no longer use the "SC" logo on their baseball caps. The Digital has this story.

This is bogus. The University of South Carolina was founded as South Carolina College in 1801-- 80 years before Southern Cal. "SC" is the official state abbreviation assigned by the United States Postal Service to the state of South Carolina; the state of South Carolina is referred to on maps by the abbreviation "SC"; that various South Carolina state agencies use "SC" as part of their agency acronyms; that the state's official website uses the letters "SC" as part of its Internet address.

The gist of the ruling is that Carolina quit using the interlocking "SC" logo on sports hats in 1981 and did not start again until 1997. During that time Cal continued use of the logo. Cal was smart enough to apply for the mark and Carolina thus lost an uphill battle to use a logo that rightfully belongs to it.

I hope there will be an appeal.

Full post as published by South Carolina Appellate Law Blog on August 08, 2008 (boomark / email).