Southern California officially ruled the real ‘SC’

Affectionately referred to as ’SC by its students, alumni and fans, the University of Southern California is the rightful owner of the interlocking “SC” trademark, a court announced last week, despite the University of South Carolina’s latest attempt to trademark a similar symbol.

Trojan pride · South Carolina has challenged the Trojans’ rights to the SC trademark, but Southern California continues to win out. - Mike Lee | Daily Trojan

When South Carolina initially came out with the interlocking “SC” logo in 2002, Southern California challenged its application to register it as a trademark. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board denied South Carolina’s logo, saying it was confusingly similar to USC’s.

In the recent counter appeal by South Carolina after the initial dispute was settled in USC’s favor, the school argued that “SC” is tied with the state of South Carolina and that the university is an agency of the state. The court, however, felt that South Carolina did not adequately demonstrate its case.

“What South Carolina tried to do is register the interlocking ‘SC’ logo for baseball helmets and merchandise related to their baseball team,” said Matthew Curran, USC’s director of Trademark Licensing & Social Responsibility. “Basically, the net result was the  [Patent and Trademark Office] came out with the ruling that the interlocking ‘SC’ was a mark that was too close to what was already registered,” said Curran.

The ruling was handed down by the federal court of appeals, which has been the most recent court to hear the case, which began in 2002. Although the ruling does not require South Carolina to immediately discontinue its use of the logo, it does give Southern California the open ability to legally challenge South Carolina’s use of the interlocking “SC” logo.

If South Carolina chooses to continue efforts to trademark the interlocking “SC” logo, the next step will be to take the case to the Supreme Court, a move that Curran said is highly unlikely.

“At this point it is a remote hypothetical,” said Curran of a continuation of the appeal process. “Our mark has held up pretty well through this process. Hypothetically, if an appeal was lost, it puts our registration to the interlocking ‘SC’ at risk, but that hasn’t happened,” Curran said.

The recent announcement of the rights to the interlocking “SC” logo looks to be a decisive victory for Southern California.

“This last judgment was pretty clear that the logo for the University of Southern California is registered for and strictly unique,” said Curran of Tuesday’s ruling.

The “SC” logo is seen daily here on the USC campus, where students can be found sporting the distinctive mark.

“I think, in terms of what it means to the school, the interlocking has a lot of national prominence for USC as opposed to South Carolina,” said John Major, a senior majoring in biological sciences. “It’s important because it’s another form of school pride.”

The confusion about the similarities in symbols between South Carolina and Southern California has been noted by many students at USC.

“I think it’s interesting that whenever you are on the East Coast, and you say ‘I go to USC,’ they always ask, ‘South Carolina?’” said Renee Edgren, a junior majoring in communication. “In the bicoastal sense, we are two different schools, but I don’t think they should have our interlocking ‘SC.’ If they were to have a similar symbol, it would confuse people even more.”