Ohio State University Files Trademark Infringement Suit Against Pinup Calendar
Ohio State University Files Trademark Infringement Suit Against Pinup Calendar
Ohio State University doesn't want anything to do with a pinup calendar featuring scantily clad women.
And the university went to U.S. District Court yesterday to emphasize its point.
Attorneys for OSU filed a lawsuit asking Judge James L. Graham to prohibit the 30-page calendar from being distributed and sold. Pinup photos in the calendar, titled "Scarlet & Gray Girls," use words and paraphernalia that have been trademarked by OSU, Joseph R. Dreitler, a university attorney, told Graham during a 45-minute hearing.
Graham agreed and issued a seven-day temporary restraining order prohibiting Sean M. Ashbrook of 486 Vermont Place from distributing the product. Ashbrook, president of Calendar Models of America, has published the calendar.
Graham noted that neither Ashbrook nor his attorney attended yesterday's hearing. However, the university needs an immediate ruling from the court to stop the calendar from being distributed, Graham said.
David Lyons, another -OSU attorney, earlier told Graham that Ashbrook's roommate told him Wednesday that the calendar publisher will not return from vacation until this weekend. Ashbrook could not be reached by the Dispatch.
Graham scheduled another hearing for Thursday to decide whether the restraining order should be extended beyond a week. Ashbrook should have returned to Columbus and hired an attorney by then, Graham said.
Dreitler told Graham that Ashbrook never applied to OSU for a license to publish the calendar, even ,though the product displays many items that are associated with and trademarked by the university.
For instance, the cover features a partially dressed woman carrying a tuba and wearing a cap similar to those worn by the OSU Marching Band, Dreitler said. Also, the woman is in Ohio Stadium, he said.
The woman is shown bending over in a pose similar to that used by band members who dot the "i" in Script Ohio during band performances at football games in the stadium, Dreitler added.
Other women in the calendar are featured wearing OSU football shirts and pants, carrying university football helmets and wearing OSU baseball team caps and shirts, the attorney told Graham. Another woman is lying on an OSU afghan rug, Dreitler said.
He acknowledged that the university has not trademarked the phrase 11 scarlet and gray." However, scarlet and gray have been the official OSU colors since 1878, he added.
Ashbrook intends to convey the false impression that the calendars are endorsed and licensed by the university, Dreitler said. Nothing could be further from the truth, he added.
"Ohio State University doesn't want its name and trademark associated with this product," Dreitler declared.
Also, the university requires publishers and manufacturers who use OSU trademarks to pay the university licensing fees, Dreitler said. If Graham allows Ashbrook to be exempt from the licensing fees, other business people will be reluctant to pay these fees, he added.
Originally published Aug. 20, 1999. Story © Columbus Dispatch. This text is exactly as published.
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