RALEIGH
For months, some alumni of the N.C. School of the Arts have been fighting efforts by the school's leaders to change the school's name.
Now they have a new tactic: They are trying to register the proposed new name, "University of North Carolina School of the Arts," as a federal trademark. If they can trademark the name, they say, they can block the school from using it.
"They have not crossed their T's and dotted their I's, and this is just another example of that," said David Winslow, a School of the Arts alumnus who is involved in the trademark effort.
The application was filed on June 3 by Ira David Wood III, another School of the Arts alumnus who opposes the name change.
Winslow and Wood said they want the school to do a more careful study of the name change, and they want more students and alumni involved in the discussion.
"It was to make a point," Wood said of the idea to apply for the trademark. "We're not just whistling ‘Dixie' here. We're talking about substantial things that need to be discussed and need to be taken care of."
The opponents worry that changing the school's name will weaken its brand. The school, which was founded in 1963 as a conservatory of the performing arts, has an international reputation as a top arts school.
School officials want to change the name to emphasize the school's affiliation with the UNC system and to prevent confusion among people who think that the school is only a high school. (The school offers high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees.)
Supporters of the name change also say that the new name would make the school better known and help with fundraising.
The idea of obtaining the federal trademark may not be as ingenious as it sounds.
"I would be very surprised that anyone could pre-empt the UNC system from using any ‘University of North Carolina' name without their permission," said Rodrick Enns, a trademark attorney in Winston-Salem who is also on the board of directors of the International Trademark Association. Enns is not involved in the School of the Arts case.
It is expected to take several months for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to evaluate the application for the trademark. One of the first things that the government will do in evaluating the application is search its database for similar trademarks already on the books.
"One thing that might come into play is that we can't register a mark that is confusingly similar to another mark," said Cynthia Lynch, the administrator for trademark policy and procedure at the U.S. trademark office.
That's something the School of the Arts cited in a written response Friday to questions about the effort by Winslow and Wood.
"A name or title cannot be patented or copyrighted under the federal law that governs intellectual property. The only protection available is a trademark -- and a trademark is valid only if there is no other pre-existing use of it which would cause confusion,'' the school said in its statement. "Both ‘University of North Carolina' and ‘North Carolina School of the Arts' are protected by federal statutes and common law. We believe that the trademark application and registration by Mr. Wood will be found invalid, and any attempt to patent the name will be rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office."
Meanwhile, the bill that would change the school's name is pending in the N.C. General Assembly. The name change was approved by UNC's board of governors last month, but it requires approval by the legislature.
Wood, who owns a theater in Raleigh and is the father of actress Evan Rachel Wood, said he is concerned that school officials don't have solid plans to market the new name.
"You can call it the cockroach motel," Wood said, "but you've got to market it. It's a branding issue."
■ James Romoser can be reached at 919-210-6794 or at jromoser@wsjournal.com .
■ Ken Keuffel can be reached 727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com.
*The headline of this story was updated on Monday, June 16.
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