legal, copyright, trademarkI’m starting a company that features unique university clothing. Is it legal for me to use my university’s logo on clothing items I design and sell?
Absolutely not. Using their logo without permission would be infringing on both their copyright and perhaps more importantly trademark.
There is an application and approval process to use a university’s logo on authorized gear (and generally you will only be approved to make specific products which have been shown to meet certain standards), and it can be incredibly expensive - especially for large colleges/universities.
Also, don’t be tempted to think you’ll get away with it since you’re a small company. A lot of business owners fall into this, and some of them do get away with it, but there’s one key thing they’re not considering. To maintain ownership of their trademark, the University is essentially REQUIRED to fight against unauthorized use of it or risk losing rights to it.
No, they own the trademark, and you must get your right to use it in writing.
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