Lipscomb drops ‘LU’ logo after pressure from Liberty University

The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville reports:

Fans of Lipscomb University who wear “LU” sweatshirts or drink from “LU” coffee cups now have their hands on limited-edition collectors’ items.

Lipscomb officials are shelving the short-lived symbol after Liberty University pressured them to stop using the “LU” logo. Both universities have used an interlocking L and U to promote their athletics departments.

Liberty, a Christian school in Virginia, federally registered the trademark a few years ago. That trademark covers the letters’ use in the context of higher education.

Several months ago Liberty officials contacted Lipscomb and asked them to stop using “LU” for marketing and commercial purposes.

David Corry, Liberty’s general counsel, said his university was open to a compromise that would have allowed Lipscomb to use the letters in some way, but Lipscomb officials decided to stop altogether.

“Our athletics department introduced the mark a short time ago,” Deby Samuels, Lipscomb’s vice president for university communication and marketing, said in a prepared statement. “While it was one that we felt we had the right to use, when contacted by another school about the mark we chose to simply return to using the word Lipscomb.”

Read the full report.