Cal Poly made another attempt Thursday to stop Bello's Sporting Goods in downtown San Luis Obispo from selling clothing and other products labeled with the school's nickname.

University attorneys, arguing in the 2nd District Court of Appeal, said the school has exclusive rights to the "Cal Poly" moniker that has been commonly used since the World War II era. The appeal comes two years after a Superior Court judge ruled the store has the right to use the school's nickname on its sweatshirts, hats and other products.

Four justices heard roughly a half-hour of oral arguments Thursday morning from lawyers representing the store and the California State University system, of which Cal Poly is a member. The court plans to issue a written decision in about a month.

The appellate court, based in Ventura, participated in a community outreach trip Thursday and held its hearings in the county Board of Supervisor's Chambers, as the court typically does on an annual basis. About 150 attendees packed the room.

Wendy Lascher, a private lawyer hired by the CSU, argued in court that the store's attorneys misapplied laws in the original trial and did not provide enough evidence.

Even though Bello's attaches a disclaimer to its products clarifying they are not produced or connected to the school, Lascher said, there's nothing to prevent people from removing the disclaimer once they leave the store.

"The trial court ruled we did nothing to show Cal Poly was endorsing what we were doing," said Neil Tardiff, the store's attorney. "They elected to nickname their school with a generic name, and they can't protect that."

In the original court decision, Judge Jeffrey Burke wrote that the logo is more generic than what's required for trademark status, which is basically the same thing the Federal Patent and Trademark Office said when it refused in 1999 to register "Cal Poly" as the university's trademark.

Locally, the Cal Poly nickname inherently stands for "California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo," university legal counsel Carlos Cordova said after the hearing.

"Basically, the 'Cal Poly' name is a very important name to us," he said. "It's equally important to us how it is used and presented to the public. ... We want to regain control of that name."

The university is not seeking monetary damages, Cordova said. It simply wants Bello's to stop selling "Cal Poly" products. The store has stocked unlicensed Cal Poly sportswear since the late 1940s.

Meanwhile, a new state statute could affect this case and future litigation.

After the April 2001 Superior Court decision in favor of Bello's, CSU officials thought of another way to stop sales of the store's products: ask the state Legislature to change the Education Code and specifically protect school nicknames.

In August 2001, the governor signed an amendment to prohibit people from using the 23 CSU universities' names or nine of their abbreviations, including "Cal Poly," without permission from CSU trustees. Such illegal acts include using the universities' names or nicknames for commercial purposes.

Lascher argued that Bello's is now violating that statute.

But Tardiff said the statute was introduced after the original lawsuit, and the CSU would have to sue the store again if it wanted to use that argument.

CORRECTION
5-31-03

A story published Friday on Page A1 about a Cal Poly lawsuit against Bello's Sporting Goods gave incorrect information about a 1999 Federal Patent and Trademark Office decision. The Cal Poly Foundation asked the trademark office to patent the name "Cal Poly." But the office asked for further information, and the foundation withdrew its request. A Cal Poly attorney said the request was withdrawn at the urging of the California State University because it should have been made originally by the CSU and not the Cal Poly Foundation.