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Louisiana high school unveils new logo to comply with Rutgers' request

Greg Tufaro
Courier News and Home News Tribune

Ruston High School in northern Louisiana, which had adopted a block “R” identical to that of Rutgers University's trademarked logo, has unveiled a series of new designs to represent its school and athletics program.

The high school’s new logos, which include a different style R and a bearcat, reflecting Ruston’s official nickname and mascot, came in response to a cease-and-desist letter school officials received from the state university earlier this year.

Supervisor of Secondary Education for Lincoln Parish Schools Ricky Durrett shared Ruston's new logo designs with USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey. 

A quadrant of photos illustrating Ruston High School's new logo designs.

Rutgers was criticized on social media and on sports talk radio shows after a story about the state university requesting that Ruston stop using its trademarked block R gained national attention.

Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Mawae was among the controversy’s followers who lambasted Rutgers, which reached a similar agreement last year regarding possible trademark infringement with Robbinsville, a New Jersey high school that had also been using the same style block R.

"No one knows or cares about the red block R for Rutgers, but everyone in Louisiana knows of Ruston HS," Mawae, a former Louisiana State University and Leesville (LA) High School star, tweeted, adding in another tweet, "I heard of legendary (Ruston High School) coach Chick Childress and @Rustonfootball well before I even knew (of) @RFootball. GO BEARCATS!!"

Durrett said he and officials from Ruston High School received a cease-and-desist in late January or early February from Learfield Sports, a Texas-based marketing company which manages the Rutgers brand, asking the school to stop using the logo.

Ruston High School will have a decade to remove the block “R” logo from its uniforms, buildings, facilities, playing fields, sports apparel, social media platforms and school website.

Ruston High School's logo mirrored that of Rutgers University's trademarked block R

"Rutgers has given Ruston High School officials up to 10 years to replace the logo on major athletic equipment, and to resolve any other trademark infringement issues, over a period that aligns with the school’s regular replacement schedule," said Dory Devlin, Rutgers University's senior director of university news and media relations.

"We thank the Ruston High School officials for their cooperation in working with us to resolve this matter and appreciate the students, teachers and community members who support the outstanding Ruston athletic program.

"Rutgers, like other major universities, federally registers its trademarks, which include the block R. When trademark infringement instances come to our attention, we address them for several important reasons: to maintain the trademark registration, to avoid confusion among brand marks, and to ensure that logos registered under Rutgers’ name are used for their intended purpose."

The Ruston High School football team playing against Neville last season.

As much as Rutgers’ image took a hit from supporters of the Ruston High School football program, which MaxPreps ranked among the Top 20 in Louisiana last season, the issue of high schools using trademarked logos of college athletics programs is widespread.

Lee Green, an attorney and professor emeritus of sports and business law at Baker University in Kansas, in a column for the National Federation of High School Associations, reported that “a flood of challenges have been made by universities to the use of nicknames, logos, colors, mascots and other insignia by high schools.”

Green wrote dozens of colleges and universities in the last decade – including Penn State, Texas, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Arizona, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Florida – have sent cease-and-desist letters to hundreds of school districts nationwide.

“In some instances,” Green wrote, “a single university has sent cease-and-desist letters to as many as 50 high schools using nicknames, logos or mascots even remotely similar to those of the college.”

Ruston's new R logo (top) is different than Rutgers University's trademarked design

Former NFL Most Valuable Player and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Bert Jones, nicknamed the “Ruston Rifle” and the Bearcats' most famous football alumnus, said he does not hold any animosity toward Rutgers.

“I think it’s unfortunate," said Jones, who was the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1976 and a consensus All-American at Louisiana State University. "I certainly don’t hold any animosity toward Rutgers University. I’ve always enjoyed following them from afar having played (for) years on the East Coast. It’s certainly not going to be an easy change. I thought we had that same block letter R when I was at Ruston High School in 1969. I guess it is what it is.”

Durrett said Ruston High School, classified in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association as a Group 5A high school, which is the state’s largest group classification, features the block “R” on its football field, basketball court, newly installed turf baseball complex, on a new scoreboard in the football stadium and elsewhere.

He said Ruston High School’s block “R” has evolved over the last 12 to 15 years and the high school’s use of the logo had not previously been challenged.

Durrett said supporters of Ruston High School, which has an enrollment of more than 1,300 students, frequently purchased Rutgers athletics gear and apparel in recent years, adding he believed such transactions will now come to a grinding halt.

“From our perspective, I thought they were also profiting from (Ruston High School’s use of the logo), which now we are going to change, so I guess nobody will be ordering from Louisiana off the Rutgers website, which I think would have just been bonus sales for them.

"From what I understood, (Learfield Sports and Rutgers) didn’t see it that way.”