Auburn University
Trademark: Auburn University
First Used: 1960
Current Owner: AUBURN UNIVERSITY [1]
Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark
Primarily Associated With: educational services and entertainment services [2]
Brief (and likely incomplete) History:
March Madness® [3] is winding down and the Final Four® [4] is set. Congrats to the Florida Gators, Duke Blue Devils, Houston Cougars, and Auburn Tigers! The games don’t start until next weekend, but we are getting a jump start at looking at the trademark registrations for the Final Four and each team. Today, let’s look at the trademark portfolio for the Auburn Tigers.
Did you know that Auburn University has actually gone by four different official names over time? The school originally opened in 1859 as East Alabama Male College, a Methodist institution. In 1872, the school became owned by the state and was renamed to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama. In 1899, the Alabama Legislature decided a new name was needed to reflect how much the school was growing, and it was again rebranded to the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. The Alabama Legislature changed its mind a few decades later, and in 1960 the school was officially named Auburn University. [5]
Today, AUBURN UNIVERSITY® [6], AUBURN® [7], AUBURN TIGERS® [8], and AU® [9] are all registered trademarks, primarily in connection with educational services and entertainment services, together with a host of other goods and services.
The school also has several of its taglines registered, including ALL AUBURN ALL ORANGE® [10] (for t-shirts and lapel pins). And of course, its famous battle cry is also a registered trademark, no matter how you say it: WAR EAGLE® [11], WAR DAMN EAGLE® [12], WAR DAMN® [13], and WEAGLE WEAGLE® [14] are all registered in connection with a variety of clothing.
Auburn also has several of its logos registered, including the AU Design Mark [15], the Tiger Eyes Design Mark [16], the Tiger Design Mark [17], and the Eagle A Design Mark [18]. The logos are registered with a variety of goods and services, including education services, entertainment services, clothing, beverageware, and office supplies.
Interested in learning more about trademarks from other 2025 sporting events? Check out our 2025 posts on College Football National Championship, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, WNBA Finals, World Series, and MLS Cup.
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[1] Men’s Basketball, AUBURN UNIVERSITY, https://auburntigers.com/sports/mens-basketball.
[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,047,365, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75038478&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,485,443, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74360563&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,488,836, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=73663738&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[5] Welcome to Auburn University, AUBURN, available at https://auburn.edu/about/.
[6] Id. at 2.
[7] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,040,157, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75038479&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[8] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,172,166, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75038508&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[9] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,491,163, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77156384&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[10] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,567,414, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77503005&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[11] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,054,569, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75057218&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[12] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,515,037, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85418409&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[13] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,696,574, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85924112&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[14] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,342,934, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88805189&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[15] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,025,470, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75038480&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch/
16] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,471,635, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76092585&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[17] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 4,403,233, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=85845449&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.
[18] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 6,752,198, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=90741163&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.