Editorial: UGA logo shouldn't be a campaign prop

The big black "G" sitting inside a white oval trimmed in red, the familiar logo of the University of Georgia, is particularly ubiquitous in Athens, the school's host city. But travel anywhere else in the state, from Albany to Blue Ridge, and you're likely to see the popular symbol affixed to any number of car windshields, mailboxes, T-shirts and other items.

Everywhere it's seen, the UGA logo and other well-known symbols of the school conjure images of the gridiron glory achieved by the Georgia Bulldogs, the research breakthroughs, and the public service and academic excellence that have come to define the state's flagship institution of higher education (Full disclosure: Banner-Herald Editorial Page Editor Jim Thompson is a UGA graduate).

From the state's sports fans, to the thousands of graduates who've made this state their home and sent their own children to the school, to those who've used the services of the university's Cooperative Extension Service or any of its numerous other outreach efforts, it's not hyperbole to suggest that most of the people in this state have a real connection to the University of Georgia.

It probably should come as no surprise, then, that there are any number of people who'd like to cash in - literally and figuratively - on the prestige of the university. That understandable temptation to use the university's logo and other symbols, despite serious legal issues of trademark infringement, routinely - and quite properly - catches the attention of the university's legal affairs office.

Recent history includes a 2006 lawsuit filed by the University of Georgia Athletic Association against a moving compan

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