She was surprised by what she saw.
"People came up to me — they saw that I was licensed — and were asking, ‘Have they been through yet?'” said Smith, who owns her own company Picture This! in Oklahoma City.
She had no idea what they were talking about — until she noticed several vendors in nearby booths reaching for their college merchandise.
"What they were doing was waiting until (the licensing representatives) went through and pulling out stuff that they didn't have licensed,” she said. "I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. That defeats the purpose of us who went through and got a license,' and they were purposely being deceitful.”
What Smith witnessed was something university licensing representatives and the Collegiate Licensing Company — the nation's oldest and largest collegiate licensing agency — deal with on a daily basis.
Universities are constantly struggling to find ways to protect their licensed trademarks or what they refer to as their intellectual property, especially as technology makes it easier for anyone to become a budding entrepreneur. But where do they draw the line on what artists and crafters can and can't do?
Even the experts say there is some gray area.
This year's Affair of the Heart show is one example.
That weekend of Oct. 26-28, more than 15 vendors filed complaints of theft against Suzanne Staley, OU's director of brand development, and Judy Barnard, OSU's director of brand development, after the two women allegedly went through the event and seized merchandise that contained any reference to their respective universities, accompanied by an off-duty officer from another jurisdiction.
Vendors were selling everything from kitchen towels and diaper bags to clothing and other accessories and lost between $150 and $7,000 in merchandise.
Some used materials that were already licensed, like fabric or paper. Some used similar OU and OSU color combinations along with the word "Oklahoma” or "Cowboys,” but not necessarily an emblem. Most claimed they did not know they were doing anything wrong.
Both OU and OSU maintain that the products infringed on university trademarks, but have decided to return the vendors' items if they agree to sign a release statement.
Was it infringement?
Judgment plays a fairly large role when it comes to trademark infringement of collegiate products, said Heath Price, CLC director of university services.
"One of the most common misconceptions from general people in the marketplace or fans or consumers is if it is not a logo, it's not protected,” Price said. "We hear that quite often. ‘Well, I'm not using just the logo for the Michigan Wolverines; I'm using just the word Michigan Wolverines. You can't stop that.'
"And the reality is that on a case-by-case basis, as those are evaluated, if somebody took a rock, and they painted Michigan Wolverines in blue and gold on that rock and went out to try and sell it as a for-sale product, that's protected.”
Anil Gollahalli, OU assistant general counsel — which works closely with
