St. John’s University claims New York college violated trademark

College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota Nov. 4 against St. John’s University of New York for its use of the words “Johnnie,” “Johnny” and “Johnnies.”

The civil trademark case alleges that, while the Collegeville-based institution was founded in 1857, it has used the terminologies for its students, athletic teams and merchandise since at least 1900.

The Queens, New York, school has only begun using the terms in recent years, including a virtual assistant on its website named “Johnny” and an annual event “Johnnies Day” which began in 2023.

New York’s “Johnnies Day” is a social media spirit day intended for students, future students, alumni, professors, parents and friends to post online about their pride in being “Johnnies,” according to court documents.

Before now, the Queens college students had been known as the “Redmen” and in 1994 changed it to “Red Storm.” In 2009, the student body voted for the Thunderbird to be its mascot.

The lawsuit claims that, because Minnesota’s St. John’s has owned the trademark since 2004 after applying for it in 2003; recent first-year students hailed from across the country, including New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Arizona, California and Washington; and the New York institution regularly advertises and recruits Minnesota residents for its student body, that the St. John’s of New York is harming the St. John’s of Collegeville.

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On May 13, according to court documents, College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University counsel sent a cease-and-desist letter to the New York university’s Vice President and General Counsel Terryl Brown demanding the institution stop using the terms in official college scenarios, remove the references from its websites and sign a written agreement accepting the terms. The Collegeville university has not received a written agreement and the terms showed up on the New York website as of Nov. 5.

In the lawsuit, the Minnesota university demanded a jury trial, court orders for the New York institution to cease its use of the trademarked items and award damages to the Minnesota college.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. John’s University claims New York college violated trademark