Got Anything Else Beside Denver State University?

Earlier this afternoon, I and many alumni of the University of Denver received an email from DU Chancellor Robert D. Coombe regarding a recent editorial in the Denver Post, here.  The issue: the ongoing process to find a new name for Metro State College, located here in Denver.  Metro State is motivated to change it’s name, chiefly, as a result of its elevation to a university.  The issue is trademark in nature.

One of the first suggestions for Metro’s new name was Denver State University. The University of Denver owns registration number 2384807, the trademark registration for the words “University of Denver” in classes 006 (license plate frames); 016 (paper goods & printed matter); 021 (beverage glassware); 025 (clothing); and, of course, class 041 (education and entertainment services).  Interesting to note, the owner of the University of Denver’s trademarks, including the trademark registrations for “Transparent Courthouse”, is Colorado Seminary.

The letter from Chancellor Coombe, as well as the Denver Post editorial cited above, raised concerns that potential students would confuse this new Denver State University with the existing University of Denver and the University of Colorado Denver. And, Chancellor Coombe is no novice to trademark law. He is after all, listed as the attorney of record for the Colorado Seminary’s federal trademark application for the word mark “Pioneering Excellence.”

I am an alumnus of the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law and Daniels College of Business. I will make a confession, though I probably should not. I had never heard of the University of Denver prior to moving to Denver over eleven years ago.  However, after settling in, the decision to apply to DU was easy. It had excellent graduate business and law programs and it was conveniently located near my home (upon the law school’s move to the main campus).

Probably due to my own self-interest, I would also like to see Metro choose a name without the word “Denver” prominently displayed. As a trademark lawyer, I counsel clients against using geographic terms, such as Denver or Colorado in their marks.  They are, generally, speaking weaker marks, and you are more likely than not to find some group of consumers who will confuse your mark with that of some other product or service.  Another reason is that as I am from Pennsylvania. Since moving to Colorado I have been surprised to discover that some people confuse University of Pennsylvania and Penn State University.  The two could not be more different. However, the differences were not quite as apparent to Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, or her editors (here, courtesy of iMedia Ethics).

Perhaps Metro may  go in a completely different direction. Chancellor Coombe’s letter identifies at least one reason in support for a non-“Denver” brand. First, Metro State’s mission calls it to serve students in the seven county Denver metro area.  A Denver-centric name may turn-off for non-Denver applicants. Additionally, while a name containing Denver may aid in attracting students outside of the seven county Denver-metro area, if you believe the nightly news’ reports on Americans’ knowledge of geography, they may be just as effective naming the school the University of the United States.