SAN LUIS OBISPO - Bello's Sporting Goods can no longer sell unlicensed merchandise labeled with the "Cal Poly" moniker at its downtown store, a state appellate court has ruled.

Doing so violates the state Education Code, which says private businesses cannot use the "Cal Poly" name on their products without permission from the California State University trustees, the justices ruled in a unanimous decision issued Wednesday.

"We're very pleased that the appellate court agreed with us -- and the California Legislature -- that our name is an asset in which we have important property rights," Christine Helwick, the CSU's general counsel, said in a statement.

Cal Poly is one of 23 campuses in the CSU system.

The case will now move back to San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, where a judge will decide when Bello's should stop selling the Cal Poly-branded products. While the CSU's suit did not seek monetary damages, the court ruled that Bello's must pay the CSU's attorney fees, which add up to tens of thousands of dollars.

Store owner Tom Bello reacted bitterly, blaming Cal Poly and the CSU for acting in an underhanded way to get the Legislature to pass a new law that made the selling of his products illegal.

He was unsure if he would appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.

The university has been working for about a decade to get Bello's to stop selling unlicensed clothing bearing the words "Cal Poly." The store has sold the merchandise for 54 years.

After trying to settle the matter with Bello's out of court for several years, the CSU sued the store in 1999, asking a judge to stop it from selling unlicensed merchandise.

At one point, according to the CSU, the university offered to license the use of its name to Bello's and then later extended an opportunity to buy the store's "Cal Poly" products. On both occasions, the school said, Bello's rejected the offers.

"Bello's has no constitutional right to commercially exploit the value of the university's hard-won reputation," Justice Arthur Gilbert wrote in his opinion for the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

The appellate ruling overturns an April 2001 Superior Court decision that allowed Bello's to continue to sell its Cal Poly hats, sweatshirts and other products.

After that decision, the CSU asked the state Legislature to amend the Education Code and specifically protect school nicknames -- not just official names -- from commercial use.

In August 2001, the governor signed an amendment to prohibit people from using the 23 CSU campuses' names or nine of their abbreviations, including "Cal Poly," without permission from the CSU Board of Trustees.

"Cal Poly changed the rules after the game was over and did it in an underhanded manner," Bello said Thursday.

"They went back to the Legislature and put a rider on an education bill. I don't think the Legislature even knew what they were passing. It doesn't sound fair to me."

Cal Poly President Warren Baker and Carlos Cordova, the school's legal counsel, were not available for comment Thursday.

Bello referred further questions to his attorney, Neil Tardiff, who was unavailable for comment late Thursday.

Tardiff argued in appellate court on May 29 that the new Education Code statute could not be retroactively applied in this suit, which was filed in 1999.

Nonetheless, the court's decision said "it would make no sense to affirm a judgment denying an injunction based on what the law used to be."

If the court held that the new law didn't apply to this case, Gilbert wrote, it would not preclude the CSU from filing a new lawsuit under the amended statute.

The decision was not published, meaning it cannot be cited in future written rulings.