The University of Cincinnati threatened legal action against a middle school in Tennessee. It will not allow the use of its Bearcats mascot in Name, Image or Likeness. No exceptions will be made.
As a result, the middle school is forced to undergo a complete rebrand over the new few weeks, prior to the new year.
Cheatham Middle School is located about 30 miles outside of Nashville in Ashland City, TN. The school serves approximately 600 students in grades five through eight. Its mascot is currently the Bearcat. However, a licensing disagreement will soon cause that mascot to change to something completely different.
Cincinnati reached out to Cheatham for the first time earlier this month via Cease-and-Desist letter.
Students, Faculty, Parents and Community Members,
Recently, the Cheatham County School District received a Cease-and-Desist letter, on behalf of the University of Cincinnati, regarding copyright and licensing infringements by Cheatham Middle School. We submitted a proposal to the University agreeing to remove the logo and create a new one but have now been denied and informed that the school can also no longer use or refer to themselves as the “Bearcats”, as they also own a sports licensing copyright for that word as well. We have been left with no reasonable choice but to rebrand and choose a new Cheatham Middle Mascot. The transition will begin quick, so we would like to start the rebranding process by gathering your opinions. Please take a moment to answer the questions in the link below, as we will use them to narrow down the field and eventually choose our new mascot for Cheatham Middle School in the coming weeks!
Thank you all, for everything you do.
— Cheatham County School District Athletic Department
The aforementioned survey asks the following questions:
- What is your position or relationship to Cheatham Middle School?
- What would your choice be for Cheatham Middle School’s new mascot?
- Explain reasoning or significance of your mascot choice. Why did you choose this mascot?
If it seems like Cincinnati is overreacting to this use of its mascot, it’s because it is. There was an opportunity to license its mascot to a bunch of 11-14-year-olds for a couple bucks, or to at least allow the school to use the name but not the logo. It’s a middle school in Tennessee… No harm, no foul, right?
Wrong! The university is overly protective of its mascot and any/all corresponding assets, which makes it unwilling to set a flexible precedent regarding any/all use in the future.
A few months ago, we were alerted to the use of the University of Cincinnati’s trademarks by Cheatham Middle School. When we or our licensing agency, the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), identify infringing activity, the other party is contacted to educate them about the University’s rights and request they stop using the marks. As part of this process, we requested CMS to identify the various ways in which they have adopted UC’s identity so we can understand the full scale of what is involved to address the matter.
We appreciate Cheatham Middle School’s interest in using UC’s iconic trademarks, which are recognized both nationally and globally. But CMS never requested permission to do so. Just as many other universities and recognizable brands make significant investment to protect their own marks, we reserve the right for exclusive use of the UC marks. We understand this may cause some inconveniences, but we have a responsibility to preserve and protect the University’s rights to its marks.
— University of Cincinnati
Even though Cincinnati’s legal procedure makes sense at its core, this decision to threaten a lawsuit over a mascot seems like a huge overreaction. There was probably a different way to handle this situation without getting litigious. To hit a middle school with a Cease-and-Desist letter is such a tough look, regardless of the reason.