Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: using the name of a college for my website

I'd have to give you a caution flag on this. First, college names vary in their distinctiveness and therefore the likelihood of confusion. One is not barred from putting "Smith" in a Web address just because there is a Smith College, of course; however, when the name is "Yale" or "Radcliffe" or "Ohio Wesleyan," the likelihood increases that a Web user will believe this site is official and the likely confusion will fall under the heading of cyberpiracy - hte illegal practice of diverting Web traffic by deceiving the using public.

Next, if you avoid being deceptive or confusing in that sense by blatantly "indicating" some kind of actual affiliation with the named college, when in fact you have no official connection at all, you are probably setting yourself up for charges of good old-fashioned fraud, deceit and common-law cheat. By the way, I assume that you plan to make money doing this.

Finally, if the graphics and text suggested or emulated the college's copyrighted slogans or trademarked logo or trade style, you could be subect to suit to enjoin you use and for damages under federal copyright and trademark law.

So, it's not using the college's name that's the issue here; your issue is whether you use it to deceive users, divert inquiries, or misappropriate intellectual property.