Student’s T-Shirt Biz Competes with City
Deal will force student to turn 80 percent of profits over to city
By Dan Igo
February 27, 2006
When Brent Mittleman saw the city’s "I Heart College Park" T-shirts on sale at R.J. Bentley’s last year, he saw an opportunity.
Six months later, the shirts had disappeared and Mittleman began printing his own, identical to the city’s, to spread the "I Heart College Park love" - while making some money of his own.
"All my friends loved it and wanted one for themselves," said Mittleman, a senior economics major. "So many people were coming up to me about the shirts, I thought this would be huge."
But the city crushed those plans for now. Three weeks ago, a student working for College Park mayor Stephen Brayman told Mittleman he had to stop selling the shirts because the city had trademarked its prized "I Heart College Park" design, which made it illegal for him to make money from it.
Last week, Brayman and Mittleman agreed Mittleman could keep selling the shirts for $10 each, as long as he gave $8 of it to the city. A percentage will go to charities, including the Boys and Girls Club, and a city beautification project.
Brayman said "it’s a real win-win situation."
Mittleman agreed, though with less enthusiasm.
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