Cindy Sears received an email unlike any other she had seen on April 20.

As director of the University’s trademark licensing for more than 10 years, Sears has received countless tips concerning possible infringements on N.C. State’s 16 registered trademarks. In Sears’ time at NCSU, the school has never had an incident with another university potentially infringing on its trademarks.

The e-mail changed that.

As Sears sat at her desk, surrounded by red-sweater clad wolves made out of everything from stone to paper mache, she stared at her computer with a look of astonishment.

She had just clicked on a link to the University of Nevada’s online gift store. On the screen was a navy blue hat with a very familiar face.

The face on the hat was that of Mr. Wuf, NCSU’s official mascot, Sears said.

“To me this is a huge infringement,” Sears said as she pointed at a printed copy of the image. “This is the type of thing we’d turn over to legal counsel.”

She said the image was identical to Mr. Wuf, right down to the last whisker on its nose and the last tooth in its growling smile. The face was the same as the faces seen on the dozens of pictures and knickknacks, each emblazoned with the official circled R, in Sears’ office, she said.

Sitting atop the monitor was a stuffed doll of Mr. Wuf, State’s official mascot, with its white paws hanging over the edge and its head flopped down toward the screen while the doll sported its trademarked N.C. State beanie and showed off its large, white teeth and permanent smile. Sears’ face had no such smile.

As Sears sees it, the stuffed doll laying over the monitor’s edge might as well have been looking into a mirror.

NCSU owns the federal trademark to the word “Wolfpack,” the school’s official nickname. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has more than 1,000 member schools, and only two schools have nicknames involving wolves, the N.C. State Wolfpack, one word, and the Nevada Wolf Pack, two words.

As far as Sears is concerned, “the only thing they’ve changed was his beanie to a top hat with their ‘N’ instead of ‘N.C. State.'”

E-mails seeking comment from the University of Nevada and its agent, Collegiate Licensing Company, were not returned in the last two weeks.

Sales of trademarked items in 2006-07 fiscal year generated $841,000 for the school, according to Sears.

Any company with a mark registered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office must prove that it has worked to protect its marks, or risk losing the federal license.

In 2001, Georgia Tech filed a lawsuit against a minor league baseball team in Salt Lake City over its use of the word “Buzz,” as its team nickname. “Buzz” is the registered name of the school’s mascot. Georgia Tech won the lawsuit and the baseball team was forced to change its name and pay the University $600,000, according to a Georgia Tech press release.

The cost to officially register a trademark is $350 for each category in which a mark is registered. A mark must be renewed every 10 years. The Mr. Wuf head wearing the beanie has been registered in the paper products, apparel and sporting goods categories. The school’s most dominant trademark, the “Block S,” is registered in 14 categories, ranging from metal key rings to furniture.

The head of Mr. Wuf sporting a beanie is one of five secondary athletic marks registered to NCSU. According to federal trademark documents, the University did not federally register the face until 2005. However, its first use was claimed in 1965, meaning that NCSU can retroactively claim the logo as an official mark for the past 42 years, Sears said.

One way the University protects its marks is by preventing any alteration of them.

“One of our colleges wanted to put a tux on the ‘Strutting Wolf’ logo,” Sears said. “But, we said ‘no,’ because the official mark has him wearing the sweater with the ‘Block S’ on it.” Sears said keeping the marks exactly as they appear on federal forms strengthens future cases that involve infringement.

“By proving we are consistent in our marks we add credibility to them,” she said.

Another way the school protects its marks is by preventing counterfeit uses, according to Sears. At every football game the University has officers who are sent to look for counterfeit products.

“Most of the time, we deal with someone selling from his car or underneath a tree at football games,” Sears said. “But, in general, not a lot of that goes on.”

“People are more educated these days about official trademarks,” she said. “We usually don’t have any problems. The big games, like NCAA finals, are where the big, bulk sales go on. But we always tell people not to buy anything unless it has the official seal on it.”

NCSU is partnered with Licensing Resource Group, a firm that connects the University with retailers looking to sell official products. The firm also helps ensure trademarks are not being inappropriately used.

Retailers who sign with the licensing company become licensees. Each business is required to pay a fee to the licensing agent in order to become a licensee. In addition to the fee, the retailer must give 80 percent of each trademarked item sold to the University, Sears said. And 480 companies are licensed to sell NCSU merchandise.

The University uses part of this 80 percent to pay for the services of Licensing Resource Group. Depending on how much revenue the products generate, the school pays either 12 or 18 percent of its earnings to LRG, according to Sears.

The remaining portion of the percentage is put into two scholarship funds. The first fund is the athletic fund, which received $160,220 for the 2006-07 fiscal year. The second fund is the school’s general scholarship fund, which gives out money for need-based, merit and study abroad scholarships. The general scholarship fund was given $216,000 this fiscal year, according to Sears.

Each year the percentage of money given to each fund changes based on the consumer price index. The most recent formula the general scholarship fund promised an increase of $55,000 a year to the fund until 2008-09 fiscal year.

To provide the promised increase to the general scholarship fund, the trademark licensing division must increase its profits five percent each year until 2009, according to the University’s Division of Resource Management and Information Systems.

Each year, money not used to fund scholarships is placed in a cash reserve. This reserve serves as a safety net if the school fails to meet its expected revenues.

Sears said NCSU is planning to send a cease-and-desist letter to the University of Nevada to protect the value of its trademarks. If Nevada does not stop its use of the wolf head, Sears said litigation would be the next step.

For now, Sears said, Mr. Wuf has a twin in Reno.