I’m not talking about those kinds of four letter words (by the way, we’re still awaiting the Brunetti decision to learn their fate), so today I’m talking about this wholesome kind:

Inquiring minds may wonder (and interested alumni) how the University of Iowa might go about owning federally-registered rights in the word IOWA to convert that ™ symbol to an ® symbol?

The easiest place to start would be to claim the word has acquired distinctiveness for the typical clothing offerings of a Big Ten University athletic program in combination with the distinctive color combination, gold on black:

 

 

And, black on gold:

But, what about the word only, without being limited by font or the distinctive color combination?

No problem. Judging from another four letter truncation of a University name, it’s doable with a showing of acquired distinctiveness too.

And some may be surprised to know this remains true, even when the truncation constitutes the complete name of a State.

Go ahead and ask Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, to name just a few.