Smack Apparel Smackdown

The Fifth Circuit has ruled in favor of four universities and against a manufacturer of sports apparel, finding that the defendant’s use of colors that recalled the universities’ school colors and designs infringed their trademarks and constituted unfair competition and deceptive trade practices under the Lanham Act. The case is Board of Supervisors v. Smack Apparel (5th Circ., No. 07-30580, decided Nov. 25, 2008).