"There's no real change in the structure of the policy with respect to royalty agreements," Fineberg says. "Non-Harvard groups are not entitled to use the name for free."

Harvard owns its name and has registered it as a trademark with the government. In fact, Harvard owns multiple trademarks, ranging from the words "Harvard University" to the "Veritas Shield" and even the "Squashit," a hand gesture developed at the School of Public Health for urban youth wishing to avoid a fight.

As a result, every T-shirt, pen or mug that bears the Harvard name must be approved by the University, a task which falls to the trademark office.

The office requires manufactures of goods with the Harvard insignia to pay a royalty, which is used to fund student aid in FAS. In addition, the trademark office makes sure the Harvard name is being used "tastefully" and that the goods are of a high quality, says Joyce M. Brinton, director of the trademark office.

"Currently, the office has licensed more than 150 companies to produce Harvard merchandise. Brinton says these licences are mostly granted to clothing and memento manufacturers.

The right to control its name belongs to Harvard, not because it has purchased the trademark, but because it has been using its name through time, says Frank Conners, an attorney for the University, though he says Harvard does gain benefit by registering its trademark with the government.

Brinton says the University can force a company to stop using its trademarks if the company is implying an endorsement from the University.

"The question would be would anybody in their right mind think its something associated with the University," Brinton says.

Conners says the University can step take a company to court in cases "where there is a likelihood of public confusion."

The trademark office makes use of this power by inspecting area vendors of Harvard paraphernalia.

"Folks in the office go around to shops and look at manufacturers' labels and make sure they are licensed," Brinton says.

These 't-shirt detectives' check to see if the manufacturers have contracted with the University and if not, they are usually offered a contract, she said.

If a company refuses to license through Brinton's office, the University will order it to "cease and desist."

"We're constantly going after companies, but these matters rarely rise to level of litigation," Conners says. "We usually only go after the most egregious cases."

Both Conners and Brinton say the University does not usually pursue local business using the name Harvard for unrelated services, like pizza parlors or dry cleaners.