After the university cracked down on high schools across the country for using a logo similar to UW-Madison's ""Motion W"" this fall, another school's ""W"" is now under fire.
Washington High School in Fairfield, Iowa is said to have a logo too similar to the trademarked ""Motion W"" logo, which is characterized by its tilt, shadow, square prongs and arrow indentation.
Superintendent David Schmitt told the Washington Evening Journal Wednesday that the Washington School Board received a letter from the university requesting the logo be phased out.
Though Schmitt told the Journal copyright infringement was nothing to laugh about, he said, ""We are hoping the University of Wisconsin has bigger fish to fry than to worry about us.""
However the university is not backing down anytime soon. Over the last few months the university sent dozens of letters to high schools, saying their logo was essentially a ""Motion W,"" according to Cindy Van Matre, director of licensing for UW-Madison.
""When other outside entities start using it, it no longer becomes unique to the University of Wisconsin,"" Van Matre said of the logo in November.
""It could become a generic logo, so when you have a federally registered logo, one of your obligation is to protect it.""
Van Matre said phasing out logos does not cost a significant amount of money because usually logos are used for things like football helmets, which are reordered every year and can have different designs.
Schmitt told the Journal the district will continue to have discussions, but he ""thinks the best course of action is to gradually phase out the use of the logo.""
