Ana Mendoza / The Collegian
Private businesses near campus that implicate Fresno State might seem at first glance to be connected to the university, but they are not.
With the exception of Sequoia Textbooks, businesses like Bulldog Village apartments and the Dog House Grill restaurant are not officially affiliated with Fresno State, nor do they pay any kind of royalties to the university.
Sequoia Textbooks is located on Shaw Ave. just off of Maple Ave. across the street from Fresno State, and sells Fresno State gear, accessories and textbooks.
“[We pay] ten percent on top of everything that has the Fresno State logo,” said the bookstore’s manager Misty Bassham.
Bassham affirmed that the store pays for “every bit of information” they receive from Fresno State. Because they sell textbooks used for classes at Fresno State, they have to buy the textbook information from the university.
Sequoia Textbooks shows a painting of a Fresno State Bulldog displayed on one of their walls, but the business does not have to pay royalties on the sign.
“The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) has been in here and looked at it, and said that since we are not using it to make money, it is just a representation of the college, that it is fine that we have it,” said Bassham.
The CLC is a trademark enforcement company. Fresno State, along with many other colleges and universities, use CLC to engage with companies like Sequoia Textbooks to help enforce their trademark.
According to a Harvard Law website, trademarks are protected and a party can sue for trademark infringement if another trademark bears too much resemblance to its own. The court would look at specific factors of the case and assess the “likelihood of confusion” the public would have between trademarks.
The Bulldog Village logo is similar to Fresno State’s, but they don’t pay royalties.
“We designed our own logo of a bulldog; we do not use Fresno State’s Bulldog logo,” said office manager Cynthia Cruz.
The Bulldog Village, however, confirmed that even though they are located across the street from campus, their name is Bulldog Lane Village.
“[It’s] named after one of the streets our property is on (Cedar Avenue and Bulldog Lane). In most of our advertising today, we have dropped the word ‘Lane’ for simplification” confirmed Jean Robbins, the director of operations and marketing for Bulldog Lane Village.
The Dog House Grill also does not pay royalties since “Dog” is not a trademark of Fresno State. Even though the restaurant has many Fresno State football team items displayed on their wall, most have been donated by various individuals. Since they don’t sell Fresno State merchandise, they are not subject to fees.
“[These items] have been given to us just because Fresno State wants to show their achievements,” said Matthew Billingsley, manager of the Dog House Grill restaurant.
“More than 50 percent [of our customers] are students, administration or teachers,” said Billingsley. “Fresno State is a big part of our business.”
The majority of Bulldog Lane Village tenants are students because of where the apartment complex is located, Cruz said.
“Because you see the symbols and everything, you would think that it was connected,” said political science major and Dog House Grill customer Keith Finnell.
“They use the name just to get students to go there,” said Alfonso Garcia, an undeclared junior from Fresno State.
Since these companies provide different services than the university, they are more likely to be immune to this kind of lawsuit.