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The Industry

Puma Attacks Drury’s Logo

Puma, an 83 year old athletic company out of Germany, is challenging that Drury University’s relatively new logo looks a little to much like Pumas logo created in 1968.Drury, a university here in Springfield, Missouri, claims that their use of the black panther is dated back to 1930; far before Puma created or trademarked their panther logo. With this evidence they are hoping to continue on through the trademark process without any more interruptions.The Drury logo was created by The Team, an ad agency out of Nixa, MO. The art director at the time of the logo creation, as well as a Drury graduate had this to say:

“It came up very late in the process. Yes, they are both black jumping cats, but it was far enough from Puma’s that we didn’t see it as a concern.”

If Drury fails to win over the United States Patent and Trademark Office they could face forced alterations to their logo, or worse, a complete re-design.

Off Topic: Two brothers founded the Puma company, but after time spent by one of the brothers in World War II, they began a legendary feud. Their disagreements led to the break up of their partnership. One brother continued to run Puma, while the other began his own business across town and named it Adidas