Club sports teams are allowed to use trademarked NC State logos and words, excluding certain images, and can only purchase apparel through a licensed vendor, according to Davis Cromer, a junior studying business administration and president of the club tennis team. 

Teams can use certain logos and words if they are purchased through specific vendors that pay for licensing, but Cromer said they cannot use the words “Wolfpack” or “NC State.” For example, club tennis could only say that it was “Club Tennis at NC State,” not “NC State Club Tennis.”

Cromer also said teams can only use Adidas for trademarked logos and there are only four vendors club sports are allowed to use.

Ben Strunk, assistant director for sports programs in Wellness and Recreation, said NC State receives money for the trademarks from the vendors themselves, and sports clubs do not directly pay to use trademarked items on apparel.

According to the trademark website, revenue is used for scholarships in athletics, study abroad, merit and financial aid.

Strunk said clubs are highly encouraged to use NC State images as long as these images can’t be mistaken as belonging to a varsity sport. Teams are also not allowed to alter the images in any way.

“They do have to say ‘club’ on there,” Strunk said. “They do have to indicate that they’re a club sport. Some of them use other words, like ‘Icepack’ or ‘SailPack’ or other ways to differentiate themselves.”

According to the NC State trademark licensing page, altering logos includes things such as putting a hat on Tuffy that is not his normal red hat, changing the color of the block S, or changing colors or color scheme of any other logo. In addition, they cannot use retro designs, which are any past images that have been updated, such as the block S before its update in 2005.

All club apparel and merchandise that uses trademarked logos or words must get approval from the trademark licensing department, which is done through an online form, according to Strunk.

Cromer said while the club tennis team has never had issues with getting approval or with trademark infringement, he knows some clubs who chose to alter the logo or use unapproved designs have had problems, though he did not name specific club teams.

“We’re just changing up color bases, so it’s a short approval process for us,” Cromer said. “On other teams, it’s more complicated because they’re getting their own new designs every year … We’re trying to make the point not to mess with any of that, because it’s not really worth the hassle for me.”

Cromer said while the trademark department does have many restrictions, he does understand why the restrictions exist. 

“I would obviously love to use some of the old logos,” Cromer said. “Some of them are pretty cool, but I understand why they have to.”