After disagreement about whether or not a Syracuse University alumna’s business idea interfered with SU’s trademarking policy became public last Thursday, the university is looking to resolve the issue this week.

In 2009, then-SU student Alyson Shontell had the idea for Syracutie, a clothing line for girls and women, and began the application process to trademark Syracutie in 2009, according to an article she published to the Business Insider website Thursday.

Because she is in the process of talking with the university, Shontell declined to comment for this article.

Shontell’s idea was met with enthusiasm during an initial phone call with SU’s trademark and licensing director, according to the Business Insider article. The director said he did not believe Syracutie would infringe on any of SU’s trademarks and referred her to a number of apparel vendors, according to the article.

But in July 2010, a day before Syracutie was to be legally trademarked to Shontell, she received a call from SU’s licensing director, who told her SU lawyers advised against the trademark application due to Syracutie’s likeness to SU’s name. Shontell argued the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office didn’t oppose the trademark, and that Syracutie was based off the city of Syracuse, not the university.

The licensing director persisted and told Shontell the lawyers recommended she grant the trademark rights to SU, for which she would not be compensated.

Shontell consulted a number of faculty and students for legal advice in a mass email titled ‘SU alumni needs your help by EOD tomorrow! Trademark issue.’ Receiving positive feedback and encouragement from advisers, Shontell composed an email opposing SU’s offer, according to the article.

SU was given three months to stake their claim after filing the opposition. Eventually, the Nov. 15, 2010, deadline to oppose the trademark passed, and Syracutie legally became Shontell’s, according to the article.

When she met with SU’s lawyers in January 2011, Shontell was asked to sign paperwork allowing her to be the sole licensor of Syracutie, which would prohibit anyone, including the university, from using the word without her permission. As compensation, she would have to grant the trademark to SU for free, according to the article.

Shontell was told by SU lawyers the university could sue or cancel the trademark if she disagreed, according to the article. Months have passed and Shontell is still mulling over the offer.

‘If I take SU’s deal, I’ll have to turn myself into a full-blown distributor without being able to reap the easy benefits of licensing my mark, which was my plan all along,’ she wrote in the article.

Shontell and SU lawyers will meet this week to try to work out an agreement.

Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, said in an email that the university is eager to settle the Syracutie trademark issue with Shontell.

‘Alyson is an outstanding example of the entrepreneurial spirit emblematic of our students and alumni, and we look forward to reaching an agreement with her that will enable her to bring her work to the marketplace,’ Quinn said.

Shontell is now selling Syracutie apparel online; but without the university’s support, outside vendors are afraid of purchasing her merchandise. She has also received an offer for her trademark by an entity outside the university, which she is also considering.

Shontell’s trademark is now at a crossroad.

She wrote in the article: ‘Do I sell my company in its very early state and in a sense admit defeat? Do I give the university my trademark and become the sole licensor? Or do I hold strong and keep trying to sell Syracutie myself?’

dbtruong@syr.edu

 

Published on April 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong