In response to a lawsuit over the use of the phrase “Tomorrow Starts Here” in a marketing campaign, networking giant Cisco Systems says it is “surprised.” From AllThingsD:

Cisco is being sued in federal court by East Carolina University, the second-largest institution of higher learning in North Carolina (UNC is the biggest). ECU objects to Cisco’s use of the phrase in a branding campaign launched late last year.

ECU registered a trademark on the phrase in August of 2010. In its filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, it claims use of the phrase in connection with “education services in the nature of courses at the university level.”

Cisco registered to use it in December of 2012 for the following purposes:

Computer hardware and software; computer hardware and software for interconnecting, managing, securing and operating local and wide area networks and telephony systems; computer hardware and software for transmitting, securing, storing, uploading, posting, displaying, tagging, editing, organizing and processing data, audio and video; computer hardware and software for conferencing services; computer hardware and software for instant messaging and presence identification; telephones; wireless communications devices, namely, wireless hardware and software for the transmission of data, audio, and video; call processing software for the transmission of data, video, and audio; downloadable electronic instructional materials, namely, manuals, guides, test materials, and magazines in the field of technology; computer software for use in social networking; electronic devices and software for recording, organizing, transmitting, storing and/or reviewing voice, audio, video, and/or data files; routers; switches; computer network adapters; computer servers; communications servers; computer hardware containing network security functionality, including firewalls, data encryption, and/or interoperability with network security protocols; set-top boxes.

 Cisco "Surprised" at Trademark Lawsuit From University