A lawyer with Iowa State’s university counsel said that the school is still discussing what action to take concerning a possible trademark violation in Iowa City.

“We’re currently discussing it,” said Keith Bystrom, associate counsel for the ISU’s legal department. “I anticipate us cooperating in the prosecution of these individuals.”

On Sept. 11, two men from Cleveland, Scott C. Jefferson, 33, and Marcus R. Hill, 24, were arrested outside Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium and accused of selling shirts that police said violated a new intellectual property law.

The shirts depicted Calvin, from the Bill Watterson comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” urinating on an ISU football helmet.

According to the official police complaint, the words “The cyclones suck, Michigan swallows,” were printed on the shirts.

The two men were arrested on different sides of the stadium. They were charged with intellectual property counterfeiting, an aggravated misdemeanor that can be punished by up to two years in jail and fines up to $5,000.

Although not likely, Bystrom said the university hadn’t ruled out the possibility of civil action against the men.

“That’s certainly been part of our discussion,” he said. “My understanding is that when the T-shirts were confiscated, and under copyright law, those are going to be turned over and destroyed.”

The final decision on how the school will handle the matter is expected within a few days, Bystrom said.

Iowa State has been known to be protective of its name and logo. In April, the ISU Men’s Hockey Club was investigated and suspended for misuse of the ISU name and logo.

Juanita Lovejoy, associate director of the office of intellectual property and technology transfer, said protection of the name and logo is essential to maintain the image of the university.

“It’s important because we need to be able to protect the university image,” she said. “And by protecting that image, we can control the goods and services the marks can be used on.”

She said the image of Watterson’s “Calvin” was an example of a trademark which had been left unprotected.

The image of the cartoon boy with spiked hair and a round head has been shown urinating on logos from Ford to symbols of Christianity.

“If you don’t enforce copyright laws, you don’t protect your mark from being used in inappropriate ways,” she said.

Lovejoy said trademark violations with ISU logos occur monthly, but that most are handled amicably, rarely going to court.

Of the T-shirt, she indicated it was not up to ISU standards.

“We would not have approved that,” she said.