The Toronto Blue Jays slapped Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska with a trademark infringement accusation over the use of their mascot.
According to The Globe and Mail, the baseball franchise accused Creighton University of encroaching on their Blue Jays mascot with their own Blue Jays design. The two aren’t identical by any stretch of the word but the Blue Jays believe that their mascot is so close to their own that they decided to file a claim with the US Patent and Trademark Office when Creighton University tried to file a trademark claim of their own.
Creighton has been using their own logo since Septemeber of 2013 when the school moved from the Missouri Valley Conference to the Big East conference. The Blue Jays stated in their trademark claim that allowing the university to use their Blue Jays mascot could cause confusion in the public eye if they tried to sell merchandise with the logo stamped on it. The ball club claimed that people might think they are “approved, endorsed or sponsored” by the Toronto Blue Jays and therefore should be denied a trademark. Both sides are currently discussing the matter in the hopes of avoiding a lawsuit.
We’ll admit that the two logos look similar but not enough to waste a court’s time with an unnecessary lawsuit. If the Toronto Blue Jays are really mad that their logo looks somewhat similar to their own, they shouldn’t sue Creighton University. They should sue the animal kingdom for creating the blue jay.
College Gets in Trouble for Encroaching on Toronto Blue Jays' Mascot
