Columbia Sportswear just chalked up an early win on its home turf, after a federal judge in Oregon refused to toss the Portland company’s trademark lawsuit against Columbia University. The decision keeps alive a high-profile fight over whether the Ivy League school can slap the word “Columbia” by itself on campus gear, despite a 2023 coexistence deal that was supposed to keep the peace and avoid confusion at the cash register.
Judge Keeps Case In Oregon
U.S. District Judge Amy M. Baggio denied Columbia University’s bid to dismiss the case and shot down the school’s request to move the dispute to New York in an opinion signed May 1, 2026. The judge focused on an October 2025 shipment from the university’s New York campus to a Portland address and found that those sales, allegedly placed through the university’s online store, were enough to give the Oregon court personal jurisdiction over the school, according to Justia.
What The Suit Says
According to the complaint, a 2023 coexistence agreement let Columbia University use the name “Columbia” on apparel only if it appeared with a clear university identifier, such as the school’s shield, the word “University,” or the founding year 1754. Columbia Sportswear says that deal was tested in September 2024, when it discovered that the university’s webstore was selling shirts, hats, and other items bearing only the word “Columbia,” and in some cases appearing next to competitor logos, a detail first flagged by Willamette Week.
Jurisdiction Turned On A Portland Shipment
In keeping the case in Oregon, the court leaned on Ninth Circuit “effects” and specific-jurisdiction standards. Judge Baggio concluded that even a modest number of targeted sales into Oregon can support jurisdiction when they are part of a defendant’s ordinary business activity. She also rejected Columbia University’s argument that using a Barnes & Noble-operated storefront shielded it from being hauled into Oregon court, finding that disputes over how much control the university actually exercised would have to be sorted out later in the case, according to Justia.
Relief Columbia Seeks
Columbia Sportswear is asking the court for an injunction that would halt all sales of the challenged apparel, force a recall of items already sold, and require that any remaining stock be donated to charity. The company is also seeking actual damages and wants a jury to triple those damages under federal law, according to The Associated Press.
Why Coexistence Deals Can Break Down
Trademark coexistence agreements like the one at issue here are supposed to draw clear lines so consumers are not confused about who is selling what. This dispute highlights how easily those lines can blur when a single word like “Columbia,” combined with particular fonts and colors, does the heavy lifting on branding. Legal coverage notes that Columbia Sportswear holds a federal word mark for “COLUMBIA” and that the parties have hammered out consent agreements allowing limited use in multiple countries, setting this case up as a broader test of how universities and commercial brands split the lucrative merchandising space, as reported by Law360.
Next Steps
With the motion to dismiss denied, the lawsuit now moves into discovery. Both sides will dig into how the university’s online store operates and who signed off on the disputed designs. Expect more motions over what evidence the jury gets to see and how damages should be measured before the court reaches any final decision on liability or remedies.
