NC State at odds with Loyola over Wolfpack name

North Carolina State University wants to be the only Wolfpack prowling the lucrative world of college merchandising and licensing, a goal that has put it at odds with Loyola University in New Orleans, which boasts a Wolfpack of its own.

Last month, N.C. State sent a letter to the Catholic school asserting its legal right to the name and logo, which the Raleigh institution registered with the federal government in 1983, the year Jim Valvano coached the "Cardiac Pack" to an improbable championship in the NCAA tournament. N.C. State isn't threatening a lawsuit, and so far the two schools have only engaged in preliminary talks. Both sides say they're optimistic of reaching a mutually satisfactory solution, but NCSU's desire to be the only Wolfpack in town is in no doubt.

"Just like with any company, when people hear the name 'Wolfpack,' we want them to associate that with N.C. State," said Shawn Troxler, assistant general counsel for the university.

Right now, there doesn't seem to be much danger of anyone confusing the two athletic programs.

N.C. State has nationally prominent football and basketball programs that play in the high-profile Atlantic Coast Conference and fields 24 teams in men's and women's sports. Loyola, with just under 5,000 total students, has 10 teams and is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

But this isn't a case of the big wolf picking on the little one, Troxler said. He described it as a legal obligation to protect State's property in the future.

"We're not trying to pick on the small school that's using 'Wolfpack,' this is more about having a discussion about how they can use the mark under certain terms," he said. "If we take no action, if we don't seek to protect our rights, we can pretty much give up trying to enforce them."

Troxler is probably right about that, according to trademark experts.

"It is really a legal requirement that they do pursue what they believe is an infringement of their mark," said John Kettle, a professor at Rutgers School of Law-Newark and an expert on sports law and intellectual property. "If they don't, the law could find them in abandonment of their mark for lack of quality control."

That's not only a hypothetical possibility, either. Virginia Tech is currently suing a company called Hokie Real Estate over use of the nickname that adorns the school's sports teams. This month, a federal judge dismissed Tech's motion for a preliminary injunction partly because "a multitude of restaurants and other businesses are currently using the Hokie mark without permission from the university."

"You really need to maintain your rights," said Mark Malek, a patent attorney with a Florida-based firm who tracks high-profile trademark disputes. "Owners don't forfeit trademark protection rights completely, but the next time they go after someone they'll lose teeth in their effort."

At stake is not just a school's reputation, but revenue. Merchandising and licensing deals are worth about $4 billion a year to U.S. colleges and universities, according to the Collegiate Licensing Company. In the last fiscal year, N.C. State brought in nearly $800,000 from licensing its trademark, with roughly $540,000 going to scholarships and about $250,000 for the university's endowment.

"It's a substantially valuable asset for a university," Kettle said. "It's big business."

That's partly behind recent disputes between major schools over trademarked logos, names and even the way letters are designed. Syracuse University's bid for a federal trademark on the word "orange" for merchandise purposes has drawn opposition from other schools that use the color, and both Florida State University and the University of Florida have sent cease-and-desist letters to high schools using color schemes and nicknames similar to those institutions' registered trademarks.

The dispute between State and Loyola is still friendlier than that, but it's still complicated. Yearbooks at Loyola show the name Wolfpack was being used by teams at the school as early as 1932, according to spokeswoman Meredith Hartley.

"It seems to have almost always been part of our history," she said.

N.C. State didn't become the Wolfpack until 15 years later, but Loyola didn't have any sports teams between 1972 and 1991, during which time NCSU registered the trademark. Since then, the school reached an agreement with the University of Nevada and its Wolf Pack over colors and the display of its logo, and both State and Loyola are optimistic about finding a workable solution.

"We're just opening up the discussions right now, but I'm sure they'll come to a mutually agreeable discussion," Hartley said.