In a complaint filed on February 16, the Board of Regents of the University of Texas have alleged that an Austin-area car wash business' replica of the iconic UT tower constitutes an infringement of UT's rights in three trademarks consisting of various depictions of the tower. (A copy of the complaint, with pictures, is available here.) The car wash owner reportedly spent approximately $3 million designing and building his 60-foot replica of the famous 300-foot tower, but he apparently did not expect that undertaking would implicate intellectual property rights held by UT. "This case presents a good example of how trademark disputes can arise from unexpected sources," says Christopher Barnett, a trademark attorney with Scott & Scott, LLP. "High-value projects incorporating pre-existing works in any form need to be accompanied by some measure of due diligence regarding third-party rights. However, UT's likelihood-of-confusion claims seem to be somewhat misplaced, in light of the fact that it is doubtful the defendant is offering educational services at the car wash. It will be interesting to see if the university amends its complaint to emphasize a trademark-dilution theory of liability. For more information, please contact Mr. Barnett at 800-596-6176 or cbarnett@scottandscottllp.com.