University Brands: "SC" Logo Can't Confuse Casual Fans

The University of Southern California is accustomed to winning on the playing field. In fact, one could argue that part of the school's brand is winning. Now, the university's brand is a winner, quite literally.

Far from the sunny shores of California, the University of South Carolina, on the east coast, attempted to register its interlocking "SC" logo -- which is has used to represent its baseball team for years. However, the University of Southern California filed a law suite claiming the University of South Carolina's logo was confusingly similar to its own "SC" logo.

In true college rivalry fashion, the University of South Carolina countered with a claim that Southern California's logo misleadingly suggested affiliation with South Carolina. The Federal Circuit Court, however, sided with Southern California. It dismissed South Carolina's claim, upholding the 2009 US Patent and Trademark review board ruling that rights to the "SC" belong to the University of Southern California alone.

It's noteworthy that the protections extended to Southern California's "SC" were based on possible confusion experienced by "new or casual fans." While it is certainly understandable that Southern California would go to any measure to protect its (very lucrative) logo, a look at the two logos (top) raises the question of just how casual a fan one would need to be to make such a mistake. The ruling appears to fail to take into account the font and color of the "SC" mark.

Furthermore, this ruling seems to offer a branding paradox: Southern California claims the "SC" logo is a strong identifier of its specific program yet also posits that the "SC" connection is so weak that it could easily be confused. Isn't this an admission by Southern California that its brand is not all that strong?