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Nasir and Matt start the week by discussing Ohio State University suing a t-shirt company for trademark infringement and unfair competition after t-shirts were sold with school names, logos, and slogans. They then answer, "Many years ago we bought up a bunch of trademarks for potential names for new product lines. Someone approached us to buy one we didn't use. Is it possible to sell the trademark?" Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: All right, welcome to our podcast where we cover business in the news and answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can send in to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. And my name is Nasir Pasha, and I am the host of Legally Sound Smart Business. And, joined with me as a co-host for the second time, I believe… MATT: I guess that’s me – Matt Staub. I thought I was going to be a featured player this week, but that’s all right; co-host is fine. NASIR: No, you are now a co-host. It’s the second episode that you’ve been a co-host. MATT: Well, this is exciting. NASIR: Not really, but second, yeah. So, it’s 117 episodes of you being a guest, and now you’re an official co-host. MATT: Well, I don’t know who to thank. Glad to be here! NASIR: Thank the people. Thank the people. MATT: It would be interesting if you had a different co-host every single time. NASIR: I know; I wish I did. MATT: Ah, that kind of hurts. NASIR: I didn’t mean any offense for you. I just, in general, think it would be a good idea to not have you on. MATT: Fair enough. Well, speaking of not liking things, we’re going to talk about a place I don’t like to leave this off and that’s, as they like to call it, the Ohio State University. NASIR: The Ohio State University. MATT: Which you’re familiar with. NASIR: Yeah, I almost went there for my undergrad. MATT: Oh, you did? NASIR: Okay, yeah. MATT: I did not because I don’t like Ohio State but how close were you to Columbus? NASIR: About an hour west. MATT: Okay. So, yeah, I imagine everyone there is a huge Ohio State fan. NASIR: Most definitely. But, for some reason, there are a lot of people from Michigan, too. So, it’s like, whenever you went to those big games at someone’s house, there’d be, like, a third of the people wearing yellow. MATT: It’s actually “maize” is the color but it’s all right. We’ll let that slide. NASIR: Maize? MATT: Yeah, their color’s officially maize – some sort of navy blue and maize. But, yeah, that’s the color of their yellow. Anyways… NASIR: That’s amazing. Hey! MATT: All right, that’s good. So, we’re talking about Ohio State in a battle with an online t-shirt company. The title is pretty creative – “Ohio State tries to buck online t-shirt company.” They’re they Buckeyes. NASIR: I got that. MATT: I like a good Monday morning pun. So, I’m sure this happens with a lot of universities but this one’s a little bit different. It’s online so it’s not like it’s somewhere that’s on the campus or in Columbus necessarily, I guess. So, the company is Teespring Inc. and basically Ohio State says they’re using unlicensed versions of Ohio State’s trademarks, logos, buckeye leaves, pictures of Urban Meyer who is their football coach, the chant they have, and I guess this business is doing well. Another thing too is Ohio State’s definitely known for being one of the bigger following, huge stadium. They obviously make a ton of money so they probably make a significant amount of money on that as well so I can see why they’re a little bit upset. NASIR: Yeah. It’s one of the biggest campuses, for sure. I mean, I’ve been there. It’s huge. It’s like its own city within Columbus. MATT: Yeah. NASIR: Well, you’ve heard of Teespring, right? I mean, there’s these other companies out there, too. But, basically, it’s a t-shirt printing company where you literally upload your art then you can sell it to other people and then Teespring gets a percentage of it. And so, it’s a good way to raise money for non-profits.