Benny Baker

Not only that, but also that playing Major Juniors, not the NCAA, is the appropriate path to the NHL.

Who is "they"? Do you have some inside knowledge that there are multiple owners of Nodak LLC?

It's clickbait garbage. Headline misrepresents that UND "now owns trademark" while article concedes "[Nodak] LLC has expressly acknowledged the University's existing rights in the NODAK mark as the senior user." UND owned it all along, even according to the LLC that registered the trademark. Registration of a trademark doesn't necessarily mean ownership. If I registered (recorded) a Warranty Deed in Ward County today claiming to own Rob Port's house, does that mean I am automatically the owner?

Thanks!

Do you know what seasons they wore these? I've seen these jerseys too on eBay and what not, but don't ever recall seeing a UND player wear one.

What years?

Yes, his name is Jason Jenkins.

Haha. I'm not an IP lawyer, so bear with me. (Btw, any of you around here an IP lawyer--we could use one?). But my general understanding is that in the United States, the first person to use a trademark is the presumptive owner, not the first person to file. I say "presumptive" because trademark litigation occurs frequently to determine who owns the trademark; i.e., the first person to use it and where it's being used; the first person to register it and where its being registered (federally or in a state); etc. So UND's position is that it always owned this trademark anyway because it was the first to use it. Nodak LLC, Brianna Berry, nor anyone else was ever an owner of this trademark. Instead, Nodak LLC simply filed a registration for it. But since Nodak LLC was not the owner of the trademark, it apparently agreed to transfer that registration to its actual owner, UND. The significance of this from UND's perspective is that since Nodak LLC never owned the trademark, neither it nor the Berry's would have ever been in a position to profit off of it.

Nodak LLC transferred its registration of the federal trademark to UND. Nodak LLC did NOT transfer ownership of the trademark to UND. UND's position is that it was always the owner of the trademark, not Nodak LLC.

You’d need to see the LLC’s operating agreement, which will contain a schedule of all the members/owners. Unfortunately, those aren’t required to be filed with the state in which the LLC is organized.

Don’t give the Berry daughters the idea to register Hawks LLC and trademark the word “Hawks” though.

Presumptive standard

First to use > first to file is the presumptive standard in America though, right? This is why UND’s position is that it always owned the trademark and Nodak LLC never did.

You missed the point, which is that Nodak clothing is not a novel idea in North Dakota and was, in fact, a trademarked name several—meaning 2 or 3 but not many—years ago.

Just to be clear, by “several years ago”, I meant the date it was registered in 2018. But correct, it went inactive earlier this year.

Mentioned this to someone the other day, but putting “Nodak” on green, black, and white hockey-centric clothing isn’t really a novel idea here in North Dakota: https://m.facebook.com/100042171531851/ After all, “Nodak Apparel” was a registered ND trade name several years ago.

Thanks! Didn’t see that in the herald article!

“Dodds says the rights have been acquired by UND through the mark’s use over many years”. I didn’t read where UND acquired the mark from Nodak LLC, though???? When the dust settles, we’ll all see that the agreement was not an assignment of the trademark from Nodak LLC to UND, which is why there is no financial transaction; but rather, a hold harmless agreement.

I think that’s Schloss’ shortcoming. He’s the media. He supposed to be “the enemy”. (Almost famous). He writes puff pieces for the Sioux instead of being critical. For example, UND didn’t play bad, they ran into a hot goalie. Or, UND only recruits “character” guys, while completely dropping the ball on the Mitchell Miller scoop. Speaking of scoops, anyone notice how Schloss tweets about new commitments about 10-15 minutes after it hits the threads here? It’s almost as if you guys are his recruiting sources….

Take a lift from soccer. Put 8 stars on the side of their helmet and add number 9 after April.

The full "Fighting Sioux" name never made it on a hockey jersey either. Most seasons the word "Sioux" was also absent. And truthfully, from 1964-1993,* the hockey team was the only athletic program to wear the "Blackhawk" logo whereas every other program was using the interlocking ND and Geometric logo. Seems to me that there's always been a "hockey only identity" but its only recently that a certain subset of folks have chosen to complain about it. *Correction, if I recall, we had home whites for a few years in the 70s with the ND, but I still stand by the point.

Until I see proof, this is my take too. It is such an obvious conflict and so outrageously stupid to try to pull off, that I have a really hard time believing that was the intent and motivation here.

#jerseygate or is it nodakgate? Yes, a lot of open questions needing answers.

I want to know motivations and intent. If the Berrys' intended to register the trademark with the motivation to leverage a buyout later on, then I might join the "Fire Berry" crowd because that shows a complete absence of common sense and ethics. But, I am willing to hear the situation out first....

https://a.espncdn.com/pdf/2012/0305/doc_6.pdf