GETTYSBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania woman is claiming ownership of the Gettysburg Area School District Warriors logo that has been in use for nearly a decade.
Kierstan Demps, a 2010 Gettysburg high school graduate, filed a trademark with the State Department in September under her company Kierstan’s Kids LLC. She then sent an email to the school district notifying them of her newly claimed ownership and requested a meeting to discuss a licensing fee.
Jonathan D’Silva, the director of Penn State’s Intellectual Property Law Clinic, believes her claim is baseless.
"You can go ahead and make all the claims you want to other people who are using similar marks, if they were there before you, you will lose every time if you go to court, so there’s no point," said D'Silva. "She’s just wasting her money and she’s wasting people’s time."
D’Silva adds she is requesting a licensing fee that she has no right to.
"Just because you get the registration doesn’t mean you were there first," said D'Silva. "The registration will tell people who come later that there’s a mark that’s registered and you need to watch out for it but it doesn’t give you any rights to marks that existed before."
In a statement to FOX43, the Gettysburg Area School District said:
“A previous GASD employee helped create the logo over a decade ago. Ms. Demps did not create the logo nor have anything to do with its creation.”
D’Silva backs the school district’s assertion.
"If the employee was operating under the scope of her employment, the school district owns that logo," said D'Silva. "The copyright in that logo for which she could be infringing on their copyright."
According to the Gettysburg Times, Demps was sent a “cease-and-desist” letter in early October saying she could face criminal violations and couldn’t continue trying to pursue the trademark. A move D’Silva says may not have even been necessary.
"Honestly, the school could have just ignored her, and say, ‘You want to go to court, go ahead.’ She would have lost in summary judgment without even going anywhere," said D'Silva.
The district adds they are in communication with their legal counsel, to determine appropriate next steps. FOX43 reached out to Demps for comment but received no response.