New Western Michigan Helmet

[29texan]

Meh....

[NEW.ERA]

There using the 1984 W. And so what it's a W. Washington does not own a letter, and who cares if it draws resemblance to a mediocre styling of said letter. Also the Blue Bombers used that W.

[WJMorris3]

There using the 1984 W. And so what it's a W. Washington does not own a letter, and who cares if it draws resemblance to a mediocre styling of said letter. Also the Blue Bombers used that W.

But if Washington doesn't protect their use of the W, they could lose it.

[NEW.ERA]

I find it would be a bigger deal if this was in the Pros, but it's College.

And Western Michigan and Washington will probably never play one another. High School's do it all the time, and lesser College teams do it. This W that WMU is using, is a W used by no one in the College landscape, now if they used any other W other than the 1984 one, I could see some problems, but this not a problem to no one.

On to the Helmet it's self. Very nice, Brown and Gold clash so well together, such an under used and underrated look.

[WJMorris3]

But even the use of a "W" dilutes Washington's brand. Why is it that designers are all gungho to suggest protecting one's designs and yet you're not backing Washington's obvious claim? The courts would side with Washington here.

[wyopokes2]

Wyoming has a block W on their official style sheet and they have about the same colors ha

[thespleenenator]

Wyoming has a block W on their official style sheet and they have about the same colors ha

Number 9 is a direct ripoff of the Oklahoma State cowboys.

[Burmy]

My dad says letters of the alphabet are public domain...that's apparently been a legal precedent (the Star Trek folks tried to sue somebody over that font, but that case was tossed).

[wyopokes2]

Wyoming has a block W on their official style sheet and they have about the same colors ha

Number 9 is a direct ripoff of the Oklahoma State cowboys.

Actually Wyoming owned the logo first. It's in the trademark database for Wyoming. However in 1993 Wyoming signed an agreement that Oklahoma State could use the mark as well. Here's an article on it.

[Trident M]

Ok, aside from the W-Bronco mess, is the team actually wearing black jerseys to go with a gold and brown helmet? That's the real crime.

Also, while the thread has been jacked, I love Wyoming's identity. I hope they never mess it up with Vegas gold again.

[oddball]

To clarify the whole trademark things, especially on the "W". If you go back and read the Iowa vs. Southern Miss lawsuit, one of the issues that was brought up was the use of "birds of prey" in college football and the dilution of brand. The court pointed out that if it's a different color then there is enough separation of images/brand. Washington would have no case in suing Western Michigan based on color differences, the brands don't cross (aka they aren't selling in the same area), and of course you can't trademark a letter, unless it's stylized (aka Wisconsin's flying W). Here's the thing, with the Bronco head on the W, it's a different logo from Washington's W on their helmet. There's no brand confusion at all. Is it designed well? Not really, but it is what it is. I think they may have placed the Bronco head on the W to avoid the Iowa-So Miss issue with either Washington or Wyoming.

[deliver2david]

But even the use of a "W" dilutes Washington's brand. Why is it that designers are all gungho to suggest protecting one's designs and yet you're not backing Washington's obvious claim? The courts would side with Washington here.

Washington would lose that argument since Western Michigan has used a block "W" for decades without a challenge.

[illwauk]

I can understand where folks are coming from when they say it's cluttered, but I like it. They have one of the nicest logos in D1, but it's not exactly something that'd be recognized by the casual fan who might come across one of their games on ESPN Plus. Besides, I'm a fan of anything that adds more of Western's actual school color to their look.

[bucknut40]

I like the look, ik its alot going on but the black W on the gold helmet just appeals to me