The University of New Mexico has filed suit against an online school that calls itself GeekUNM, charging the upstart institution with a trademark violation.
GeekUNM, which is based in Santa Fe, opened early in 2005, but New Mexico officials learned of it only this year (The Chronicle, March 16). In April the real university sent a cease-and-desist notice to its ersatz satellite, threatening GeekUNM with a lawsuit should it refuse to change its name.
The online venture said it would do so, according to the Associated Press, but it doesn’t seem to have lived up to its promise. While its Web site now proclaims, "We are absolutely, positively, NOT affiliated with UNM or their athletic department," the institution still refers to itself as "Geek University @ New Mexico" and "GeekUNM." —Brock Read
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