W.Va. School rejects Wisconsin demand to drop ‘W' logo

In Brief

CLEAR FORK, W.Va. (AP) - Westside High School has rejected a demand from the University of Wisconsin to drop its W logo.

Wisconsin has notified Westside, Weir High and 19 other schools across the nation that the university registered the W in 1996 as a trademark and no one can use or sell anything that uses it without permission, Cindy Van Matre, director of licensing for the university, has said.

Changing the logo on football helmets, jerseys and other school items would cost thousands of dollars, Wyoming County Schools Superintendent Frank Blackwell said.

“It's absolutely ridiculous,” Blackwell said. “It's not the same W and we're not changing anything.”

Blackwell said Westside's silver W is straight across the bottom and outlined in white, while Wisconsin's red W is arched at the bottom and shadowed.

“It's not their W,” Westside Principal Deborah Marsh said.

Van Matre has said Wisconsin does not want to sue any of the schools. The university merely wants them to phase out the logos that she says infringe upon the university's trademark.

If Wisconsin should sue, West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw has offered to represent Westside.