DES MOINES, Iowa [WHO-TV] — Drake University filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court on Monday against Des Moines Area Community College. WHO-TV in Des Moines reports, in the lawsuit Drake claims DMACC’s recent rebrand contains signature elements that have been a part of Drake’s brand identity for decades. DMACC’s rebrand includes a standalone ‘D’ in block-style lettering as part of their new logo, which Drake claims in the lawsuit looks similar to its standalone vintage-style ‘D’ logo that the university has used since at least 1902.

As part of the rebrand DMACC also changed its color scheme from navy blue and red orange to lighter blues and white. The lawsuit claims the new color scheme closely resembles Drake’s color scheme.

According to the lawsuit, officials at Drake contacted officials with DMACC to address concerns over the similarities and attempted to find a resolution. Drake claims in the lawsuit that in March DMACC assured the university that the college would only use the logo where the acronym ‘DMACC’ was under the standalone ‘D’. The lawsuit claims that when that email exchange occurred DMACC had already been selling merchandise with the standalone ‘D’ logo.

The lawsuit also claims that the similarity in the two logos and color schemes adds unnecessary confusion for future students and others. Drake is asking for the Court to deem DMACC’s rebrand an infringement on Drake’s trademarks and for an order directing DMACC to cease using the logo and other aspects of their rebrand that resembles Drake’s. The university is also asking for monetary relief and a jury trial.

DMACC released the following statement about the suit:

We’re disappointed that Drake University has chosen to protest DMACC’s new logo — the DMACC & D. Drake University has been a great partner throughout the years, including strong transfer options for our students. Both names for our outstanding institutions have always started with the letter D — you can’t say DMACC without it, and we both have always had blue as our primary color. Drake University simply does not own the letter D. In fact, multiple universities use the letter D in their branding and many own federal trademark registrations for the same. Our hope is that we can quickly resolve this issue amicably with a minimum of legal expense and move forward with our joint mission of providing students with a high-quality education.