After six years of negotiations, the University of Wisconsin
is pursuing legal action against Washburn University for infringement of UW's
trademark "Motion W" logo.

The Board of Regents filed a lawsuit last week stating
Washburn must refrain from using the symbol, recall all infringing products and
compensate UW for all sales involving the logo.

During the past six years, Washburn has repeatedly agreed to
change its logo, but UW officials said Washburn has instead expanded its use.
The logo adopted by Washburn has a motion "virtually identical" to UW's, the
university believes, but in the color blue.

"The law says if we allow anyone to use [the logo] without
complaint, we lose protected status despite what color it is," said Casey Nagy,
special assistant to Chancellor John Wiley. "We never threatened [Washburn],
and we always intended to minimize their financial harm. We just want to
protect our mark."

Washburn University is a public, four-year institution in
Topeka, Kan., with about 7,200 students. The logo is used in the school's
athletic department and is featured on uniforms, the football field, basketball
court and a wide variety of merchandise.

According to Nagy, UW went through a detailed search to make
sure no other institution had a similar logo. The logo has not changed since it
was trademarked in 1990 with the national Collegiate Licensing Company.
Washburn's logo was trademarked in 2000, he added.

"A W is a W is a W," said Dena Anson, Washburn's director of
university relations. "We were just kind of puzzled by the suit when the
litigation started. It's just our opinion that the W's are not the same. Ours
is blue."

According to Anson, Washburn's logo has edging for a border
and straight edges, while UW's has a shadow and more curvy lines. To Nagy, the
different colors of the logos are insignificant because from a university
perspective, the issue is what the symbols stand for.

"The Motion W is emblazed at center court in the Kohl
Center, in the middle of the football field and on every jersey worn by student
athletes, not to mention on half the T-shirts sold around here," Nagy said.
"People have an association with the Motion W with the University of
Wisconsin."

The Motion W has been used to promote UW educational and
athletic goods and services since 1929. When the symbol was officially
trademarked, its use was specified for "clothing, namely T-shirts, sweatshirts,
sweaters, jackets and headwear," according to the lawsuit. UW also owns state
of Wisconsin registrations for the logo, including souvenir items, written
materials, buttons, banners and advertisements.

"Undoubtedly, the logo is part of both Washburn's and
Wisconsin's identity, but it's not like either of us have been using it for
over 50 years," Anson said. "These things change with time and styles that are
popular."

According to Nagy, the lawsuit has nothing to do with money.
If the Motion W were lost, UW would still sell other products with Wisconsin
logos. It's about what people identify the university with, he said.

"I believe that [people] who associate the Motion W and UW
would object to the dilution of that value by seeing Motion W in literally
hundreds of different contexts that didn't have to do with the university,"
Nagy said. "It's exactly that impact that we're concerned about."