“They needed several very good examples of our fans calling the hogs,” Stimmel said. Some clips were general crowd shots at football games, while other videos showed individuals, such as Chancellor David Gearhart and Athletic Director Jeff Long.
Trademark protection seemed appropriate.”Įvans said he did a “complete search of every sound mark and not a single college or university registered a sound mark or cheer.” As for Arkansas being the first school to federally register its cheer, Evans said, “I’m confident it’s true.”Īrkansas submitted several examples of audio and video showing Razorback fans calling the hogs. “The Hog Call has been around since the 1920s and it is exclusively identified with the University of Arkansas. “We’re always having conversations about how best to protect the symbols and images associated with the university,” Evans said. It’s often equated to an oral or musical signature for a brand. Sound trademarks are most commonly used for sounds that are associated with a certain brand, like the NBC chimes or the Intel jingle. It was last summer that Stimmel, Evans and university counsel Scott Varady first discussed the possibility of trademarking the Hog Call. Now we can prove it, in case there’s ever something that comes up that’s potentially damaging.” “We own that action, the Hog Call, and it’s registered under the university’s name. It’s more about protection,” Stimmel said. “It’s not about trying to monetize this iconic piece of who we are. CLC, however, applauded Arkansas’ decision to protect a cheer that so closely is identified with the Razorbacks’ athletic teams.Ĭandace Stimmel, Arkansas’ director of licensing, said the point of registering the Hog Call was to protect the school in cases where an entity might be commercially using “Wooo Pig Sooie” in a way that potentially harms the school or its athletics. College writer Michael Smith and Assistant Managing Editor Tom Stinson discuss the increased competition in the college multimedia and licensing space, why it's happening and what it means going forward.Įvans, who specializes in intellectual property and licensing, searched for other school cheers and chants but didn’t uncover any.Īrkansas’ licensing agent, Atlanta-based Collegiate Licensing Co., wasn’t aware of any other trademarked cheers, but CLC said it would need to do a more comprehensive search before calling it the only one.
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