Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
WILLIAMSPORT — A jury’s finding that a Seattle-based direct-to-consumer firm willfully infringed on Penn State trademarks will stand. U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann on Friday denied a motion to either vacate the November 2024 verdict that included a $28,000 award to Penn State or order a new trial. Despite finding evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support the jury’s verdict and there was no discernible error that would necessitate a new trial, he urged an appeal to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. His explanation was that the matter was complex and presented numerous issues of first impression or questions of law not addressed by the appellate court. He wrote: “This court has done its level best to reason through these issues and adopt coherent, understandable and practical tests to answer those questions. “Although the court is skeptical that trademark law was intended to be applied in circumstances such as these — involving universities that play little to no role in the sale of merchandise — it has endeavored to accurately apply the law here, and the jury has spoken, finding defendants liable for trademark infringement.” Brann wrote he trusts his colleagues on the appeals court will issue “much-needed authoritative guidance” if it finds he erred in his rulings. “It is now time for an appeal to be taken so that such guidance may issue,” he concluded. Following the trial, the judge granted the university’s request and issued a permanent injunction preventing Vintage Brand from continuing to infringe on its trademarks. He stated that failing to do so could result in Penn State losing licensing revenue and suffering harm to its reputation. The jury verdict and injunction also included Sportswear Inc., a Kentucky firm that does business as Prep Sports. Vintage Brand markets its products on its website. Orders it receives are sent to Sportswear to be fulfilled and shipped. Vintage Brand’s founder and CEO Chad Hartvigson owns 30 percent of Sportwear. Penn State, in its suit, accused the defendants of being serial infringers who spent years profiting off the reputations of educational institutions of all sizes, including Penn State. Jurors found the defendants infringed on the Nittany Lion and Pozniak Lion logos, along with the Penn State seal. Hartvigson testified during the seven-day trial that the Penn State images that appear on Vintage Brand’s merchandise come from university pins, programs, tickets, pennants, stickers and decals he spent more than $250,000 to collect. The parties agreed that Vintage Brand, Sportswear and Hartvigson do not have a license to use any of Penn State’s trademarks. The defendants claimed the university-related historic images are in the public domain. There was testimony that every page on the Vintage Brand website contains disclaimers of affiliation, licensure, sponsorship and endorsement.
