Chief Justice James Gritzner of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa did not issue a ruling on the motion to dismiss the lawsuit between members of NORML ISU and four Iowa State administrators on Wednesday.

Paul Gerlich and Erin Furleigh, president and vice president of the ISU student chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, filed a lawsuit in July against university administrators, alleging their First Amendment right to free speech was suppressed by new trademark regulations.

After the university chose not to allow NORML ISU to continue to print T-shirts with the mascot Cy and a cannabis leaf on them, Gerlich and Furleigh said the university used viewpoint-based discrimination “as a backlash against the organization’s political positions,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit named ISU President Steven Leath, Tom Hill, senior vice president for student affairs, Warren Madden, senior vice president for business and finance, and Leesha Zimmerman, trademark office program coordinator, as defendants.

ISU filed a motion on Sept. 4 to have the case dismissed, saying in their motion that the trademarks are the property of ISU, and trademark holders have a right to prevent use of its marks if it confuses an observer about whether the trademark holder “sponsored, endorsed, or is otherwise affiliated with” that speech.

Robert Corn-Revere, representing NORML ISU, said after the hearing that while the lawsuit started with a T-shirt, the broader implication of the case is whether university administrators can control political messages by student groups, the Ames Tribune reported.