But the University of Wisconsin-Madison found one of their athletic logos in an unexpected place.

Iowa's Waukee Community School District has changed its "W" logo after UW-Madison found the Waukee logo was very similar to their "Motion W" logo.

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This month's buzz over March Madness makes it seem like college logos are everywhere.

But the University of Wisconsin-Madison found one of their athletic logos in an unexpected place.

Iowa's Waukee Community School District changed its "W" logo after UW-Madison found the Waukee logo was very similar to their "Motion W" logo.

UW-Madison's Motion W has a distinctive tilt and shading that is protected under trademark. The school has used the logo and had it trademarked since 1990.

Waukee's old logo was a purple W, with a tilt and shading that closely mimicked UW-Madison's Motion W. The new logo is straighter and does not have shading.

Since the incident with Waukee occurred, UW-Madison has discovered more schools that use versions of their Motion W. The university now knows of 36 high schools in 20 states with Motion W-like logos, according to Cindy Van Matre, UW-Madison's director of trademark licensing.

"For some schools (that use the logo) it's almost identical," Van Matre said. "That's just a lack of knowledge on how trademarks work."

The university has sent letters to the infringing schools, asking that they change their logos. According to Van Matre, almost all of the schools are being cooperative.

"This is what the university needs to do to protect their brand," said Craig Fieschko, an adjunct law faculty member at UW-Madison. "It isn't pleasant, but it's the type of thing that will protect it.

"If you put out anything that can be an indication of identity, your identity is protectable under the law," Fieschko said.

Van Matre said UW-Madison does not want this to become an expensive issue for the high schools involved, which is why they are not initially seeking legal action.

She said she discovered the Waukee district was using the logo when she was traveling through Iowa.

Until changed, Waukee High School had been using its logo since 2000.

However, Waukee district Superintendent David Wilkerson said the logo they had used was not trademarked.

"The UW is maintaining that it too closely resembles the trademarked 'Motion W' of the university, and therefore violates the trademark protections," Wilkerson said via e-mail. "There are differences between it and the one Waukee was using."

Waukee High School was sent a cease and desist notice from UW-Madison regarding their use of the logo.

"We contacted our school attorneys," Wilkerson said. "I knew that in our little corner of the world this would be a big deal. We decided it would be best not to fight it and develop a new 'W' that was acceptable."

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