North Carolina State Univ. officials have contacted Loyola Univ. in New Orleans, claiming that it "owns the exclusive legal right to use the Wolfpack name and logo," according to John Murawski of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. N.C. State Assistant General Counsel Shawn Troxler last month "notified Loyola officials that their use of the Wolfpack image constitutes trademark infringement." N.C. State claims that Loyola's use of the nickname "could lead to confusion and misunderstanding in the marketing-intense, big-money world of collegiate sports." Troxler said that N.C. State is "proposing options that would let Loyola license the nickname for a fee, or require the school to use 'Wolfpack' in combination with Loyola but not as a stand-alone moniker." Murawski notes Loyola "traces its self-deification as the Wolfpack back to the 1930s, while N.C. State's usage dates back to 1947 for athletic and sporting events." However, N.C. State "registered the trademark in 1983, at a time when Loyola had discontinued its intercollegiate athletic program." This is "not the first time N.C. State has defended its Wolfpack credentials." In '08, the school "reached an agreement with the University of Nevada for use of a mascot logo similar to N.C. State's" (
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