Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay
It looks like there might be a showdown in Houston as the hometown Coogs take on the National Football League (NFL) over the colors of their alternate uniforms. At the beginning of the 2023 season, the University of Houston Cougars debuted alternate uniforms, sporting familiar shades of light blue, red, and white. The color scheme hearkened back to the halcyon days of the “Luv Ya’ Blue” era of the Houston Oilers. Ordinarily, such nostalgia would be welcome. Hometown fans embraced it, but the NFL pulled out the welcome mat from below the Coogs’ cleats. On October 11, 2023, the NFL issued a cease and desist letter to the Unversity of Houston Cougars demanding that they refrain from “all unauthorized use of the Oilers Trade Dress and agree to refrain from any such use in the future.” It seems that the future has come and gone as the Coogs have announced that they will be incorporating “H-Town Blue” into their uniforms, a color that is reminiscent but not the same as the “Columbia blue” currently used by the Tennessee Titans.
The cease and desist order explained that “among the famous and valuable NFL Marks are the uniform designs of the Titans, which includes the distinctive ‘Luv Ya’ Blue’ uniform worn by the Titans for more than three decades during the time in Houston.” Any unauthorized use of these designs, including color combinations, constituted trademark infringement, especially where the use of the design and color combination were “confusingly similar” to those trademarked by the NFL and the Titans.
This past week, the University of Houston informed the NFL that it intends to use the alternate blue uniforms, claiming that the blue shade has long been a part of the City of Houston. It predates the arrival of the Houston Oilers and “has been associated with the Houston Police Department for decades.” The NFL has yet to respond.
Any visitor to an NFL-related website will see at the bottom of the page the Following notation: “NFL and the NFL shield design are registered trademarks of the National Football League. The team names, logos and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League.” A trademark is defined in 15 U.S.C. § 1127 as a word, name, symbol, or device or a combination of these used to identify and distinguish goods from other products. Infringement occurs when someone or some entity uses that unique identifier without the trademark owner’s permission. Someone who believes another party has infringed upon their trademark must show ownership, unauthorized commercial use, and the likeliness of confusion by that use.
The Houston Texans recently unveiled new uniform designs, which incorporated “H-Town Blue.” However, Houston Texans ownership had to compromise to have the color appear on the new jerseys. We’ll have to wait and see how well the Coogs can overcome this similar hometown hurdle and not leave its fans feeling blue.
If you want to learn more about trademarks and trademark infringement, check out these links:
About Trademark Infringement - United States Patent & Trademark Office
Trademark Infringement - Legal Information Institute
What is a trademark? - United States Patent & Trademark Office