If you’ve ever visited Boston, you might have noticed a t-shirt at a souvenir stand with the logo that is familiar back home: The interlocking letters “BU,” as in “Boston University.”
Or wait a minute – could it be the other university, that one in Waco?
Baylor University claims to be the rightful owner of the interlocking BU trademark and in a newly filed federal lawsuit, it’s demanding that Boston University be barred from using the logo, which it describes as essentially identical. The only difference: the color.
It’s a fight that’s been in the making for more than a century. Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi has been reporting on the battle for Axios and joined the Standard to discuss. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: I understand this is not the first time these schools have crossed paths over these letters. And BU respected the agreement until recently. What does Boston University have to say?
Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi: Boston University essentially says that they do not comment on pending litigation matters, but you do see that on their online shop, they’re still selling some of these t-shirts and sweatshirts with the interlocking B and U. So that has not stopped.
Well, is there any question that Baylor owns the interlocking BU logo?
So Baylor University says in federal court that it does have the right to use its interlocking logo. That includes things like clothing, duffel bags, backpacks, mugs, and tumblers.
And you’ll notice that they actually have several trademark filings that they’ve filed in court to say that they do have the rights to use their interlocked B and U logo. So there seems to be a heavy paper trail that Baylor is providing to show that it has the right use its logo and that perhaps, in its words, Boston should stop.
This dates back to the ’80s, and it seemed like they reached some sort of agreement, but then Boston started using this again, and it’s kind of continued until now. What’s happened?
In 1987 Baylor says that it actually applied to register this interlocking B and U letter as a Class 25 trademark. What that means is that it includes clothing and footwear.
At the time Baylor says that Boston opposed the application, so in 1988 the universities entered what they call a coexistence agreement to use their own versions of the letters B and U.
In 2018, Baylor said that it started noticing that Boston was using the interlocking letters for some of its hats on its spirit store shop. And at the time, Baylor thought that this was maybe an infrequent occurrence. But after seeing that it continued in 2021, Baylor says it told Boston to stop using those letters.
But you’ll see that over time, according to Baylor University, Boston has not only continued using the interlocking letters, but also expanded its use. So now you see things, like I mentioned earlier on the spirit store shop right now, you can buy hats, sweatshirts, shirts with interlocking letters.
I should mention, both universities have different colors, right? Baylor is the green and gold, Boston is scarlet and white. So of course that branding is different, but Baylor says that people can confuse the interlocking B and U letters as items from its own university.
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Well, that was going to be my next question. They are different colors, and with that color difference and 1,700 miles separating the schools, would anyone really be confused by this? Or is this about something bigger that’s causing the concern?
Of course, Baylor University is a powerhouse, right? They have a very big athletics program. And this could be a matter of just stamping your control and saying, “hey, back off. Don’t use the B and U that we agreed to not use in the way that you’re using. And let us have this moment with our letters B and U.”
And of course, as we know, many universities that have a strong athletics program or that are trying to push their athletics are very, very particular about how those letters and that branding is used. So this could very well be a chance where Baylor is trying to establish its control and say, “hey, this version of B&U is ours. Try something else.”
Yeah, and merchandise is a huge business in collegiate sports, so we’re talking about a lot of money here. But lawsuits are also expensive and can be time-consuming. Is the battle worth fighting for either school?
I think it would be a very costly battle. This is two big universities going up against each other. And you notice in court so far, Boston has not filed a response. And sometimes with these types of federal complaints, you will find that universities settle.
And so in this case, you’ve noticed, right, in the ’80s, they did eventually find an agreement that didn’t require them to pursue their disagreements in court. So it’s possible that they will settle.
But for now, Baylor seems to be fighting back strong against Boston to see what they can do about these letters.
Well, what are you looking for next? Will this make it all the way to trial?
It’s very unlikely that it would make it to trial. I don’t recall a time when I’ve seen two universities battle it out in court.
I will say, though, I am curious to see, one, how much money is spent on this case, and then secondly, to see how long it takes before they settle, right?
At some point, either a court will have to tell Boston to back off, or Boston will have to do it themselves, or Baylor will have to just except the fact that there is another university that is allowed to use very simple letters of B and U in a way that perhaps it might not agree with.
