Ohio State University Challenges Trademark App For Vodka Brand ‘VOHIO”

We’ve had a couple of posts about Ohio State University’s theories on trademark law over the past couple of years, with all of them centering on the school’s application, ultimately somehow granted by the USPTO, to trademark the word “the.” The whole thing was so absurd that even noted college football cheerleader Kirk Herbstreit thought the whole thing was dumb, but here we are. The point of this preamble is that the school doesn’t exactly have a stellar track record when it comes to being sane on matters of trademark law.

All of that brings us to the present, in which Ohio State is opposing the trademark for a vodka brand going by the brand name “VOHIO.”

Ohio State University is challenging a Gahanna distillery’s bid to trademark a line of Buckeyes-themed vodka products under the name “VOHIO” that the university says would dilute the Ohio State brand and confuse the public.

Ohio State said in a filing with the patent office that Noble Cut’s target market for the sale of the vodka is students, alumni, fans and supporters of the Buckeyes, in essence the same base for sales of Ohio State’s licensed goods. The vodka bottles are the “type of merchandise that consumers would reasonably suspect to be affiliated with Ohio State,” the university said.

I truly do not understand why the source article is characterizing it this way. As someone who follows college sports, I went and looked at the branding for the vodka and it sure didn’t cause me to think of OSU in any way shape or form. Here is the bottle’s branding, so you can see for yourself.

And here’s an example of an OSU football uniform.

I mean, they’re not entirely dissimilar, but the colors look plenty different to me. The striping pattern doesn’t call to mind OSU’s branding from what I can tell. And, frankly, the school has also stated this has more to do with chants at football games than trade dress anyway.

On social media, Noble Cut displays the “VOHIO” as “VoHio” in an apparent attempt to mimic the cadence of Ohio State fan chants, such as “OH-IO,” “O-HI-O” and “O-H-I-O,” the university said, “all in a manner that suggests that the vodka sold under the ‘VOHIO’ mark is an official vodka of Ohio State and/or Ohio State tailgating activities, which is patently false.”

Ohio State also said use of the letter “V” in “VOHIO” does not do enough to distinguish itself from Ohio State’s trademarks using the word “OHIO.”

And now we’re in the realm of the absurd. OSU does not make alcohol. The idea it has broad trademark rights to the name of a state in the union is obviously silly. For all of this to somehow get warped into the opposition of a trademark that references more the state itself than the school, with only some barely discernable possible references to the school doesn’t somehow make it the case that the public is actually going to be confused as to an association in all of this seems like pure pretzel logic.

But OSU is big and has a warchest to match, which is why this may end up going to a settlement.

The case is currently on hold. The most recent filing with the trademark office last week indicates that both sides are in discussions about a possible settlement.

I wouldn’t be shocked at all if the VOHIO folks caved on this under threat of litigation. And that’s too bad, in my view, because I don’t think there’s anything remotely like a valid trademark claim here.