In the spring of 1996, the Syracuse Orange basketball team made it to the Final Four, losing to Kentucky in the national championship game. The team, led by John Wallace, adopted a memorable catch phrase during its successful run:

“The Cuse is in the House.”

A few months later, in July 1996, Syracuse University applied for and later secured a trademark for the word “ 'Cuse.” The trademark specifically covers the use of the typed word " 'Cuse" on clothing, like hats and T-shirts.

That is the oldest of nine active or pending trademarks featuring the word “Cuse” on file at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Another ten Cuse-related trademark applications have been abandoned or cancelled.

SU recently threatened legal action against a small Oswego County distillery, which last year introduced a vodka-based orange liqueur called Cuse Juice. The distillery has agreed to discontinue the product, saying it cannot afford to fight a legal battle with the big university.

That raises the question: Can a person, business or institution own the word “cuse?”

It’s certainly clear the term can be registered as a trademark.

Six of the nine active or pending “Cuse” trademarks are registered to Syracuse University. The newest, filed last month and still pending approval, is for a line of fruit-based beverages called 'Cuse Juice.

One of the abandoned “Cuse” trademarks was for the other Cuse Juice -- the liqueur produced since last summer by Lock 1 Distilling Co. in Phoenix, Oswego County.

Lock 1 owner Brenden Backus announced on July 27 that he is taking his Cuse Juice off the market, and abandoning his trademark application, because SU threatened legal action. Under an agreement with SU, Lock 1 will sell Cuse Juice only until the existing inventory runs out -- or no later than Oct. 1.

This trademark, applied for in 1996 and registered in 1997, is the oldest on file featuring the word "cuse" at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Syracuse University uses it for clothing, like hats and shirts. (Screenshot from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office).

SU did not file its application for the 'Cuse Juice trademark until July 16, about a week after it reached the agreement with Lock 1.

Backus said his small distillery doesn’t have the resources needed to fight SU. He’s considering reintroducing the liqueur under a new name, but it will take time and money to get new state and federal label and license approvals.

SU released a statement, which said, in part: “As an institution of higher education with many constituents, we have an obligation to protect our brand and image.” SU also suggested Lock 1 could simply change the name.

The 'cuse as a trademark

It appears “cuse” has been used since at least the 1980s to describe either the city or the university and its sports teams, according to Post-Standard archives. One of the earliest uses was in a local superhero comic strip created in 1982 by Joe Orsak: “Captain 'Cuse” debuted in the Syracuse New Times and later appeared in the Herald-Journal/Herald American.

It’s now found on a variety of local businesses and services, from food makers like SalsaCuse and SyrachaCuse, to the convenience store Casa de 'Cuse off Westcott Street to Cusetown Bail Bonds in Syracuse and Utica.

In the eyes of the federal government, “Cuse” can and has been trademarked for specific goods or services.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has 19 files for trademarks featuring the word "cuse." Nine are "live," meaning they are registered or pending approval, and 10 are "dead," meaning they've been abandoned or cancelled. (Screenshot from USPTO).

In addition to its pending mark for fruit juice beverages, served since 2017 in some of its dining halls, and its registered mark for the 1996 clothing line, SU has active trademarks for:

-- Cuse.com and Cuse TV, two media outlets devoted to Orange sports. The university applied for those in 2014 and registered them in 2015.

-- CuseFunder, used for charitable purposes. It was registered in 2014.

-- S Basketball Elite Cuse, used for clothing. It was registered in 2018.

There are three non-SU active trademarks or applications: SyrachaCuse registered that name, without opposition, for its hot sauce in 2017. SyrachaCuse co-owner Mike Sharlow said he has not heard from SU about the name, but had no further comment.

Two others, both from North Carolina, are pending: A company called Battle Tested in Raleigh. N.C. is seeking a trademark for Barbe’cuse, a series of community food festivals. Lee Roberts of Moorseville, N.C. is seeking to register Cuse Camp for physical fitness and exercise classes.

Both of those applications were filed this summer, and the trademark office has not yet taken the step of determining whether there is or will be opposition.

Among the “dead” or abandoned cuse-related trademarks, SU had at least three: They were 'Cuse in the House, abandoned in 2013; Cusetown, abandoned in 2014; and Electro Cuse, abandoned in 2016.

The other abandoned or cancelled cuse trademark applications were filed by people and companies unrelated to the university. Examples include Cuse Dawgz and Tour de Cuse. In 2011, a Fayetteville man abandoned an attempt to register a trademark for “The Cuse is in the House” to be used on flags.

Trademarks and the law

It’s likely that most of the businesses using the word “cuse” have never felt the need to seek a trademark.

That’s understandable, since trademarks are only strictly necessary for good or services that are sold across state lines, said Fernando Torres, chief economist for IPMetrics, a San Diego-based company that consults on trademark, patent and other intellectual property issues.

“Many times you can use a name and go about your business without any trouble,” Torres said.

Trademarks, he said, can be registered for words or terms related to specific goods and services, regardless of whether they are also used more generically by the public. Categories for good and services are spelled out in trademark law -- they can include goods like clothing, food or cars, and services like banks or barbershops, and many more.

Torres uses the example of the word “dove.” Generically, it’s a bird. But it is also registered as a trademark by one company for soap, and another separate company for chocolate.

The key point of federal trademark law, he said, is to prevent confusion in the mind of the consumer.

“In that case (Dove), the assumption is no one will confuse soap and chocolate,” Torres said.

In the case of “cuse,” then, the issue is whether the use by one company for a specific good or service -- like Lock 1′s liqueur -- could be confused with a trademark held, for example, by Syracuse University for other goods and services.

SU has no trademark for “cuse” related to an alcoholic beverage -- and didn’t even apply for one for a beverage of any kind until filing its application after settling with Lock 1.

But whether there could still be confusion is a case that a persuasive lawyer could make to a trademark judge, Torres said.

“The question is whether the consumer is likely to be confused about who is putting out that good or service,” Torres said. “Is the university making or endorsing this liquor?”

Lock 1′s Cuse Juice label may appear to some people to use the colors of SU’s sports teams -- blue and orange -- although Backus says they are in fact orange and purple. Confusion over that could weigh against the distillery. So could the nationally recognized “fame” or reputation of the university.

There is some precedent in the case files at the trademark office supporting SU’s claim to the word “cuse.” In 2012, two residents of Horseheads, N.Y., in the Southern Tier, attempted to get a trademark for the words “Cuse Nation,” to be used for clothing.

They eventually abandoned the application. Lawyers for the trademark office had indicated they would face a steep challenge in trying to secure the trademark.

"The examining attorney notes that the mark employs the term ‘CUSE rather than “Syracuse,” the 2012 case file states. “The term at issue, however, need not be the actual, legal name of the party falsely associated with applicant’s mark to be unregistrable. ... The term instead must be so uniquely and unmistakably associated with the named party as to constitute that party’s name or identity.”

“... In this case, the examining attorney has attached evidence from the online Wikipedia encyclopedia which for the “Syracuse University” entry, which begins by stating the following: ‘Syracuse University, commonly referred to as Syracuse, ‘Cuse, or SU, is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States.’ This evidence not only shows that ‘CUSE is a common nickname for Syracuse University, but also that Syracuse University is a famous institution, founded in 1870, with over 20,000 students (the vice president of the United States being one alumnus) and athletically long a member of the Big East Conference and soon to belong to the ACC. All of this shows that the fame or reputation of Syracuse University is of such a nature that a connection with Syracuse University would be presumed when applicant’s mark is used on its goods."

That case, of course, had to do with a trademark for clothing, which SU already had. Could the same argument be made for liquor, which SU does not have a trademark for?

Again, according to Torres, the question would come down to potential consumer confusion.

“I’m looking at Google and I see that Syracuse University has been named the top party school in the country,” Torres said Monday. “So someone might look at this alcoholic beverage and make that connection. That’s what you have to consider.”

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.