Keuka College forced to change "Wolfpack" nickname; North Carolina State insist on trademark protection

The moniker Wolfpack by the Tiny Keuka College needs to be replaced as the team faces legal threats. The North Carolina University wants to keep the nickname to themselves and claims that they were the first to use the Wolfpack nickname.

Due to the insistent demand from North Carolina State University using legality as their tool, Keuka College has given in to the legal pressure. North Carolina said that the college team copied its trademark and is ready to take it to court if necessary.  Since 1921, NC State has been using Wolfpack as their nickname while Keuka has only been using this name two years ago and was known as storm before that.

According to Fox Sports, Keuka president Jorge L. Diaz said that it is just wise to let go of the legal challenge that NC is proposing. He added that though they are confident that they will win, Keuka is not willing to spend their monetary resources on legal challenges like this one when the very value of higher education is being questioned during this times. He stipulated that although NC might force them to change their name but they can never break their spirits.

It has been a trend in college athletics wherein the bigger universities tend to push smaller high schools and colleges to change their nickname which is similar to them. With this move, these big universities can protect their trademark and at the same time maintain their revenues from licensed merchandise sales.

But in an argument by Keuka's spokesperson Pete Bekisz, he said that although they know that NC has a trademark already fro the name Wolfpack, he doesn't think that people will not be confused since they are using a different logo and they are in a different category. According to Mick Kulikowski, NC spokesperson, it is all about trademark protection and the organization is willing to protect it at any cost. The NC has two trademark patents using the nickname Wolfpack under the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Tags

Keuka College, Wolfpack, North Carolina State University, NC trademark, NC infringement case, NC trademark protection, Jorge L. Diaz

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