Ay, Columbia!

In 2023, Columbia Sportswear and Columbia University (a private Ivy League research university in New York, NY, with more than 36,000 students) entered into an agreement whereby the University is not allowed to sell apparel that only uses the word “Columbia” and must instead be accompanied by the word university, one of the many emblem’s of the institution, or even the year founded. Recently, Columbia Sportswear had to sue Columbia University for breaking that agreement and not only selling “Columbia”-only apparel but some that featured the Nike logo, creating a potential confusion that the two sportswear brands were somehow collaborating. (Samples in the image are taken from the lawsuit as examples of Columbia University’s misbehaving.)