Trademarking School Logos Off the Table for Now

Bethlehem Area School District directors decided Tuesday evening that for now, trademarking the logos and mascots of various district schools would be more trouble than it's worth.

The board recently sought information about the process from it's legal counsel as part of it's efforts to make sure the district is receiving all the money it's owed in it's ongoing efforts to find revenue for the district in difficult economic times.

School teams, booster clubs and other school-related organization wouldn't have been subject to paying for the use of the images, district officials said. Rather, for-profit companies with no affiliation to Bethlehem that sell gear with the schools' logos were the target.

“Walmart has been selling throws since they opened up,” said school director Eugene McKeon.

About eight to ten area stores, such as supermarkets, sell Liberty and Freedom school gear, they estimated. At least one company claims to give money back to the school district, but officials have been unable to determine whether that is true, they said, adding that at least one company did send at least one school some checks, but there is no agreement with the firm and no one knew what the money, which went to the school's general fund, was for.

“So they are making money off the pride, the loyalty people have to our high school teams,” said Superintendent Joseph Roy.

“I was interested in how we might benefit from those sales as well,” said board president Michael Faccinetto.

Legal counsel explained that the district could trademark the schools' logos on the state level for about $1,000 apiece, and for about $6,000 to 7,500 on the federal level. The national trademark would offer a broader protection, but without knowing what each of the schools' trademarks would be worth monetarily, state trademark registrations would likely have been the starting point.

Each logo, for each school, and each sport or activity would have to be trademarked individually, legal counsel added.

But even without official state or federal registration, the district can lay some legal claim to the images associated with it's schools, solicitor Don Spry said.

“I appreciate what we're doing, but I think we're way off base,” said board member William Burkhardt. “First of all, there's another Liberty High School in Pennsylvania ... And who's going to monitor this?

“For the return on the investment, I don't think it's going to be worth the time and effort,” he concluded.

Faccinetto agreed.

“If we're not going to have control over everything...And who do we do? Football, the bands, what?” he said. “It seems like a lot for nothing.”

“It doesn't seem worthwhile right now,” board member Michele Cann agreed.

“My major concern is that someone says they're giving back to the district, but they're really not,” McKeon said.

Roy said he shared the board's concerns.

“It's per trademark. That could be pretty pricey,” he said. “We can still contact these people.”