Not to Be, Um, Trifled With, Texas Guards Its Slogans

The trademarked slogan started out nearly 30 years ago as the clarion call of a campaign to reduce highway littering. But over the years it has become something far bigger: an identity statement, a declaration of Texas swagger — from barrooms to sports arenas to political conventions. And Texas is touchy about who uses it and how. In July, a Montana company that makes Western-themed accessories stopped selling a “Don’t Mess With Texas” belt buckle after the Texas Department of Transportation, which owns the federally registered trademark on the phrase, threatened legal action and told the firm to ship the offending merchandise to Austin. The author of a romance novel titled “Don’t Mess With Texas,” “a thrill ride of hunky heroes, hilarious high jinks and heartwarming romance,” found herself in a legal battle with the state after it filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Austin alleging trademark infringement. Days before the book was to be released, the state’s lawyers asked a judge to prohibit it from being sold while the case was under way. The judge denied the state’s request, but Texas ultimately won a dispute that dragged for nearly nine months. The suit was settled last year, and the author, Christie Craig, agreed to pay Texas $2,500 and change the book’s title. “Don’t Mess With Texas” became “Only in Texas.” In a state whose governor likes to point out that Houston was the first word spoken on the moon, it should come as no surprise that Texas not only invented its most famous catchphrase, but that it also fights to ensure that catchphrase is used to the state’s satisfaction. Texas officials say they want to prevent “Don’t Mess With Texas” from losing its original antilittering message and protect the authorized use of its trademark. But others say that the state has been overzealous and that it is seeking to control a phrase so popular and well worn that people now associate it more with tough Texans than with litterbugs.