Keuka College will drop the athletics nickname Wolfpack at the end of the 2015-2016 season.

In the future, they will be known as the Wolves.

The decision was forced by North Carolina State University, according to Keuka College.  According to a release from the school, “North Carolina State sent Keuka College an official request to stop using that nickname, claiming an infringement upon NC State’s trademark.”

The release adds:

“Many athletics teams co-exist with the same trademarked nickname, which is legally possible because the litmus test is whether there was a likelihood of consumer confusion between the two marks.”

It is clear that school officials are not happy with the Wolfpack from Raleigh.  Dr. Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera, president of Keuka College says:

“No one could reasonably confuse Keuka College with NC State given the significant differences in our schools— from our size, to our division, to our colors.  While NC State may be willing to spend their monetary resources on legal challenges at a time when the very value of higher education is being called into question, Keuka College is not.”

Keuka College is an independent liberal-arts college in the Finger Lakes region of New York.  The school’s enrollment is approximately 1,900 students.  Their teams in the NCAA Division III North Eastern Athletic Conference.  The school plans to keep its current logo.

The college changed its athletics nickname from the Storm to Wolfpack in 2014.  When the new nickname was revealed, athletics director Jon Accardi said, “Our community truly believes in the power of the pack, and this new identity has been met with total approval from everyone we’ve showed it to. We are very excited to unveil this new identity to the campus and the community.”

North Carolina State has federal registration for the combined word “Wolfpack”. The law distinguishes it from other teams which call themselves “Wolf Pack.”  According to an NC State official, this distinguishes the NC State Wolfpack from the Nevada Wolf Pack.