NYU's Seoul Campus or Dentist's Office?
November 2, 2009
Michael Atkins in Trademark Infringement

Purple lettering and familiar torch logo: It’s apparently not what you think.

One last report about Korea. I saw this building one day. I thought it was cool that New York University had an outpost in Seoul. Purple lettering, torch logo — what else could it be? No, the driver said. It’s a dentist’s office. The driver suggested that perhaps the dentist went to NYU. Perhaps. In the States, however, this would be trademark infringement. Even if a proud NYU grad ran the office, he can’t enshroud himself in the trappings of his alma mater to the point where he looks to be NYU, endorsed by NYU, or affiliated with NYU. I don’t read Hangul, but that’s what appears to be going on here.

Photo credit: STL. Inset: NYU logo.

Article originally appeared on Michael Atkins (http://seattletrademarklawyer.com/).
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