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Comment by save_ferris | Hacker News Reader

There have been some insanely aggressive trademark cases in the US too. The University of Kentucky sued a small moonshine distiller for selling t-shirts that had the word ‘Kentucky’ printed on them.[0] That’s it, having the name of the state they resided in was enough to trigger Kentucky athletics.

The shirts weren’t trying to knock off or reference Kentucky Athletics in any way, but that didn’t stop UK from putting legal resources behind their effort. Yet another example of how the legal system is built for the rich.

0: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/us/-legal-moonshiner-and-...

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I really hope this got laughed out of court as hard as possible. It should only be a trademark issue when they're likely to be confused. That's not remotely likely here.

UK will likely lose, but what will it change though? The little guy has to spend time and money defending themselves and go through the stress that comes along with it. UK probably will write the costs off and sue someone else.

This is why the American rule is really dumb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_rule_(attorney%27s_fe...

Agreed.

In cases like this, I wish we had legislation that required trademark holders to defend all alleged violations unilaterally or something, because selectively going after certain cases creates a terrible power imbalance.

If the university feels so strongly about protecting their trademark with regard to apparel, they should have to file cases against everyone who violates it, nor just certain individuals or organizations.

That's exactly why I want this thrown out of court as hard as possible, rather than an expensive court case, even if it can be won. This stuff is just harassment by the big corporations and showing off their power.

Perhaps the United Kingdom will sue University of Kentucky for using "UK"; let the university know what it feels like to be the little guy.

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