State Hawks 'Don't Mess With Texas' Gear

[Rose Siding]

DALLAS -- If you can't beat 'em, launch your own merchandise line. The Texas Transportation Department, holder of the trademark on the catchphrase "Don't Mess With Texas," has entered into a licensing agreement to sell hats, mugs, T-shirts and other merchandise emblazoned with the slogan.

For years, the department's lawyers have been busily chasing down dealers of unauthorized "Don't Mess With Texas" gear.

Direct Mark of San Marcos will have the exclusive right to produce the merchandise, and the state agency will receive 8 percent of the sales for use in an anti-littering campaign.
...
As the pugnacious slogan grew more popular, appearing on everything from breath mint tins and refrigerator magnets to T-shirts, the Transportation Department decided in 2000 to register it as a trademark.

The department recently stepped up enforcement to protect it. Over the past year and a half, about 30 cease-and-desist letters have gone out to merchandisers, but no lawsuits have been filed.

"We will continue to send cease-and-desist letters when we find out a retailer is actually selling an unauthorized product, but it's not like we have a full staff of attorneys taking care of these," Howdeshell said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-messing-with-texas,0,1398630.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[roguevalley]

1. divide alaska in half and texas will be the third largest state. I

wonder what we could make? Don't ... uh, ...

[Fenris]

2. Don't Mess With Intellectual Property

:eyes:

Thank you, TxDOT, for making yourself useless.

[Liberal Grant WI]

3. why?

what in the world is this for?? people who are supposed to be moral support his famous slogan that he usually uses when he puts prisoners to death?? yeah i bet all those religious fundamentalists will rush to sign up for a whole truck load of this..well especially if the republicans add the word moral to the tag.

[LiberalFighter]

4. Why?? does Texas Transportation Dept have the slogan?

Don't mess with the idiots in Texas... You might catch what they have.

[efhmc]

5. I got a TARAL "Don't Mess With Texas Women" before they are

ordered to stop making them by TxDot.

[Deja Q]

6. I won't mess with them. They're not worth it.

[mainer]

7. Why bother? They're already messed up.

I visited Texas last month to attend a conference. I couldn't believe it when the organizers insisted everyone had to stand up and do the Pledge of Allegiance before the conference could begin.

[OutsourceBush]

8. I hear it is fun to key cars with those 'don't mess' stickers

not that I would ever do that sort of thing

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

14. Oh come on now

Be brave

[darthmix]

9. nevermind

I'm an idiot

[Straight Shooter]

10. I once walked up on a car in a Texas parking lot, it was loaded with trash

And on the bumper sticker it read "Don't Mess With Texas"

Oh, the irony.

[pop goes the weasel]

11. would you rather

they have thrown the trash out the window so that you could have been impressed with their clean car?

[Justyce]

12. Austin TX had a pretty

big turnout for our 51-capitol-march Sunday, and there are plenty here on the DU from Texas, so please don't assume we're all nuts :)

[NuttyFluffers]

15. nah, of course not. i don't think people really do that.

we may sound like it in frustration, but most of us are pretty sensible knowing something doesn't mean everything. it's just a failing of the english language struggling with 2nd person speech.

but you guys do have your unfair share of 'special' cases, short yellow school bus special.

[Bouncy Ball]

13. HA!

Oh yeah, those "Don't Mess With Texas" mugs and t-shirts will sell REALLY well. Especially since the slogan is about OLD here.

Complete sarcasm. The merchandise will moulder away in boxes in some warehouse somewhere. No one buys that shit and that slogan is SO yesterday it isn't even funny. You don't even see any more "Don't Mess With Texas" bumper stickers anymore.

It was originally about littering but of course the tiny-dicked repukes of the state had to turn it into a belligerent statement about NOTHING.

:eyes:

[Menshevik]

16. I always wanted a bumper sticker

that says "Don't fuck with California" instead of "Don't mess with Texas"