In collegiate basketball, rivalries between schools are no joke. There is still bad blood between schools like Minnesota and Wisconsin over a football game that occurred over in 1890! However, in this new age of seemingly endless litigation, a new type of college rivalry is brewing.
The University of Texas recently acquired Shaka Smart as the new men’s basketball head coach. Smart was the former head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he led the team to five straight successful seasons. Smart is a great coach who is loved by players and fans alike. Even Governor Greg Abbott got on Twitter to express his excitement about the new coach.
The Texas Longhorns are hoping after last year’s disappointing season, the new addition is the right move for revamping their program. However, it’s not going to be all smooth sailing from here, as there are a few legal bumps along the way.
Smart is known for playing a unique style of basketball that he has nicknamed “Havoc”. It’s a strategy where players pressure the other team as hard as possible when they are trying to pass the ball. As Smart quickly became a successful coach at VCU, the “Havoc” strategy gained nation-wide attention. The phrase “Havoc” has become a part of Smart’s brand as a coach.
Currently, the trademark to the phrase “Havoc” belongs to Smart’s former school, VCU. At the same time, the University of Texas is trying to trademark the phrases “Horns Havoc” and “House of Havoc”. This is the start of a new rivalry between the schools; one that won’t be settled on basketball courts, but rather in legal courts.
VCU believes that their use of the phrase “Havoc” has a deep connection with their athletics programs, and that should be the grounds for their ownership, according to Pamela D. Lepley, the vice president for university relations at VCU. The university claims that the phrase is their intellectual property because it has been a deeply engrained part of school tradition for decades.
The trademark on the phrase “Havoc” was formally registered by VCU, but only in the state of Virginia, and not with the federal trademark office. UT plans on filing trademarks on a federal level, giving them a lot of leeways when making arguments in Court.
“VCU certainly would have been in a strong position if it had federally registered the mark,” said John Farmer, a trademark law specialist.
Regardless of what happens in the litigation, the VCU Rams are not leaving behind their “Havoc” mantra.
“If you travel anywhere in the country and you say VCU basketball, I think the word associated with that would be Havoc,” said Will Wade, the new VCU men’s head basketball coach. “We’re going to continue that brand. It’s a national brand.“
As Smart joins the University of Texas team to wreak “Havoc” on opponents, it seems that a new rivalry has formed in college basketball. This time, however, it’s not the players that are embroiled in the battle between schools, but rather the lawyers. Let’s see how the “Havoc” in the courtroom ensues.
