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The Nixa Public School district is taking a proactive step to avoid a possible trademark infringement lawsuit. The school’s current eagle athletic logo is identical to the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles logo, with just the colors changed. KSMU’s Katie Easley has this report.
Nixa has used its current athletic logo for over ten years. But Zac Rantz, spokesman for Nixa public schools, says the logo is not original.
“We currently are using a logo that is very similar to the Philadelphia eagles, and several school districts around the country and even in our state and locally have had problems with organizations and sports teams where their logos are similar to theirs, And they have asked them to change them and a lot of times they give them 30 days or a certain time period,” says Rantz.
Rantz says changing it now could save Nixa a lot of money.
“What we would like to do is develop something that is our own so we can change it over a period of time where we’re not spending any extra money. We are just spending it as we order new things. We just put the new logo on it so that way we are being good stewards of our money,” says Rantz.
Nicholas Farha is an instructional designer with Missouri State University. He says Nixa is making a good decision by changing the logo now.
“I think being proactive about this is by far the best route to take because at some point in time if someone saw that and said wait a minute that’s the Eagles logo and the Eagles got a hold of that information a couple of things could happen they could just send a letter saying you’re in violation of our logo. Take it down immediately. The other side of it is they could actually sue for financial damages or something,” says Farha.
Nixa Public Schools is asking the public to take a survey that will help them decide on their new athletic logo. You can find a link to their website at KSMU.org
For KSMU News, I’m Katie Easley