Tennessee middle school says University of Cincinnati sent cease-and-desist over Bearcats mascot, logo

CINCINNATI — One Tennessee middle school must choose a new mascot after the district's athletic department said they received a cease-and-desist letter on behalf of the University of Cincinnati.

The Cheatham County School District Athletic Department said they received the letter regarding copyright and licensing infringement by the Cheatham Middle School Bearcats, who were using a C-Paw logo identical to UC's. The district said they submitted a proposal to UC agreeing to remove their C-Paw logo and create a new one, but that proposal was denied and the school was told they "can also no longer use or refer to themselves as the 'Bearcats'" as UC also owns the trademark for the mascot name.

"We have been left with no reasonable choice but to rebrand and choose a new Cheatham Middle Mascot," the district said on their post asking the community to submit ideas for a new mascot.

Photos on the middle school's social media pages show that while the school logo appears to show a different "C," some sports uniforms and merchandise does show the C-Paw logo UC owns. Under UC's trademarks and licensing program, the school "reserves the right to take appropriate action when confronted with unauthorized use of its trademark."

"We appreciate Cheatham Middle School’s interest in using UC’s iconic trademarks, which are recognized both nationally and globally. But CMS never requested permission to do so," UC said in a statement to WCPO.

The statement continued, "Just as many other universities and recognizable brands make significant investment to protect their own marks, we reserve the right for exclusive use of the UC marks. We understand this may cause some inconveniences, but we have a responsibility to preserve and protect the University’s rights to its marks."

In the meantime, UC's rival is having fun with the copyright fight. Musketeer Gear, an NIL venture led by Xavier alumni, is now selling "Cheatham Musketeers" shirts, stating that all proceeds will go to Cheatham Middle School.

A Cincinnati-based marketing company, Synergistic, has also offered a new design, logo and other marketing support for free if Cheatham chooses to become the Musketeers. The company is owned by Xavier alum Anthony Breen, who said he would look "forward to Cheatham rallying around their new mascot with more energy and excitement than ever before."

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