This article was originally published on Clinton Patch on October 23, 2012.
In an e-mail to a Clinton resident obtained by Patch, the head of the University of Connecticut's Office of Trademark Licensing and Branding says the school is working with the administration of The Morgan School to smooth over an uproar over both schools' mascot, the Husky.
The similarities between the Husky mascots became a public issue recently after someone emailed the university complaining about the similiarity between its Husky and the Husky mascot for The Morgan School.
The result is that , but its design and look must change so as not to be confused with the UConn Husky, said Morgan School Principal Keri Hagness. UConn has trademarked the Husky logo.
There are several large Husky logos in existence at the Morgan School, including the large painted Husky on the gymnasium floor and the new Husky logo on the artificial turf field.
UConn has not indicated a date of when these mascots need to be redesigned, but has issued a "cease and desist" on all new production of Morgan Huskies including items such as sports apparel, said Hagness.
This is the e-mail from UConn's head of Trademark Licensing and Branding, Kyle Muncy:
Your correspondence to the President’s office was forwarded to my attention. We appreciate your support of the University and your concern for this issue and I wanted to take a moment to respond to your concerns regarding our communication with The Morgan School about the Husky Dog logo.
As an initial matter, please understand that the University owns rights in its trademarks and has devoted a lot of time in creating them and protecting them. Under trademark law, mark owners are obligated to protect their rights or they risk losing them. The University has to address many issues, this among them, so it can maintain the integrity of its marks. That has been the simple goal of our communication with The Morgan School.
In addition, one point I would like to clarify is that we are addressing the use of the logo only and not their use of the term “Huskies”. There are many other schools and teams that use Huskies as their mascot. UConn does not have exclusivity in that regard.
Also, despite what you may have heard, we have not threatened litigation or made any specific demands of The Morgan School. Our goal is to work amicably with the school toward a reasonable resolution and the school has been very responsive and cooperative.
It is also important to note that we are not forcing the school to make immediate changes. The goal is to work out a reasonable phase out plan that has limited impact on the school’s budget. We are aware that a new school is being built in the near future and some changes will wait until that time. We have also heard from the school that they hope to engage the student population in the creation of a new logo that The Morgan School can call its own and that the students have been receptive to that idea.
Again, thanks very much for your support of the University. Please do not hesitate to call me if you have any further questions or concerns regarding this issue.
Kyle
