Grambling, After 30 Years, Separates From Pack to Trademark ‘G’

Grambling State University spent decades donning their logo—a stylized, oval-shaped letter G—without registering it at the US Patent and Trademark Office, after applications failed to distinguish its symbol from other sports brands, like the Green Bay Packers and University of Georgia.

The Louisiana-based historically Black university finally secured its trademark registration earlier this year by agreeing to coexist with the Packers and UGA, who registered their marks decades earlier. The key to Grambling finally breaking through: colors.

Grambling vowed to limit their intellectual property protections to black and gold, thereby eliminating any consumer confusion with their brand cousins.

After spending almost 30 years relying on common-law rights for its “Grambling G” following its first PTO rejection, the university again pushed to register the trademark. The move followed changes in the college sports landscape, including the growing licensing industry, that are increasing the value of schools’ intellectual property rights and the revenue streams they fuel.

That dynamic played a part in Grambling’s thinking, along with longer-term concerns about the school’s legacy and brand positioning, said Penya Moses, its vice president of administration and business affairs. “You have to look at where you are, and to see how that needs to be captured,” she said in an interview. “We have relationships and partners, like with Adidas. The merchandise and the brand is all connected to that as well. It’s all intertwined.”

As financial competition among universities increases, especially for student-athletes who can now be paid through name-image-likeness deals and revenue sharing, the significance of the multibillion-dollar sports-licensing industry will only grow.

“This is going to become even more important as future NIL deals continue to roll out,” Debbie Gubernick of Snell & Wilmer LLP said. “Additional licensing opportunities are going to increase as every university looks for ways to develop additional revenue.”

Coexistence Pacts

Grambling first applied to register its “Grambling G” in 1997, later abandoning its bid when confronted with the Packers’ and UGA’s similar G-letter registrations.

Those same logos were also cited to kill another Grambling application in 2023 that didn’t specify any colors for the logo, before the school changed its approach.

Although an open color pallet would’ve given the university maximum flexibility when using and protecting the mark, it also opened the door to confusion if paired with colors similar to the Packers’ dark green and gold or UGA’s red and black.

In its 2025 application, Grambling narrowed that scope, claiming the logo only in its traditional black and gold, which Grambling’s counsel Devin Ricci of Kean Miller LLP said helped the PTO understand how consumers view its “G” mark compared with the others.

Another critical factor were the agreements the university brokered with the Packers and UGA, stipulating that their respective marks could coexist without consumer confusion.

The Packers and Grambling are “familiar with the realities of the marketplace” and “believe that confusion is unlikely,“ according to their September 2025 agreement that specified that Grambling could use the logo only with its black-and-gold colors. Similarly, in an October 2025 agreement with UGA, Grambling agreed to not use the mark in red, or in a red-and-black combination.

Such agreements are common, said Naresh Kilaru of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP. He said some agreements are done as a favor, while others occur when one party has leverage.

Gubernick said she advises clients to consider similar agreements if the marks have been used for more than five years. The deals can provide other benefits, she said, such as mechanisms to resolve future issues without going to court and to jointly fight off infringers.

Value of Registration

Trademark rights stem from using a mark in commerce and developing the public’s recognition. Common-law rights—recognized by courts long before Congress enacted the federal Lanham Act—don’t require registration, but they can be difficult to prove, in part because records detailing early uses of the mark are easy to misplace over the decades, Gubernick said.

Registration, on the other hand, carries benefits in litigation. “It would be a lot harder to prove that, rather than just going in with a registration certificate and saying, ‘Hey listen, I own the rights,” Gubernick said.

Kilaru agreed, pointing to a 2024 jury verdict Penn State won against Vintage Brands LLC that caught many universities’ attention. A Pennsylvania federal jury found Vintage Brands willfully infringed Penn State’s registered trademarks by selling merchandise with the school’s “retro” logos, which could confuse consumers about whether the goods were licensed.

Grambling had relied on common-law rights since it introduced the “Grambling G” in 1974. But the growing value of intellectual property and concern for brand integrity pushed the school to again try to register the trademark, Moses said in an email.

“While there were earlier efforts to secure registration in prior administrations, trademark strategy often evolves over time based on institutional focus, resources, and the broader landscape of collegiate branding and licensing,” Moses said.

Landing the registration affirms the strength of the university’s identity, said Martin Lemelle Jr., president of the university.

“Securing federal protection for our iconic ‘G’ positions us to fully leverage one of our most recognizable assets, expanding partnerships, branding opportunities, and collaborations that elevate Grambling’s presence and impact worldwide,” Lemelle said.