He thwarts efforts of foreign schools to illegally operate under Harvard’s name. He rejects requests to produce Harvard cigarettes and Harvard soap. As Director of the Harvard Trademark Program, Rick Calixto wages a daily war against entrepreneurs around the world who try to violate Harvard’s right to its trademark name and insignia.

Just the other week, Calixto discovered that someone posing as a Harvard official tricked one of China’s largest schools, the Shaanxi International Trade College, into believing that Harvard had agreed to build a branch of the Cambridge university in China.

Some students on Harvard’s own campus believed the farce, and news outlets such as China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported on the agreement. According to the Xinhua article, the Shaanxi International Trade College believed that Harvard would send teaching materials, equipment, teachers, and students through an exchange program with the Chinese school.

Responding to this fiasco, Calixto quickly contacted various Harvard agencies as well as China’s trademark council and authorities to deal with the matter.

In another case that lasted two years, responding to Calixto’s complaints, Indonesian authorities threatened the president of Harvard International University in Indonesia with house arrest until he agreed to cease using Harvard’s name.

It’s all in a days work for Calixto, whose job is to correct such blatant misuses of the Harvard trademark—first by approaching those directly involved and, if unsuccessful, through more severe legal measures.

Harvard’s trademark program, which has been around in one form or another since 1985, only began its global monitoring of the trademark a decade ago—realizing that the protection of the Harvard trademark was necessary. According to trademark law, institutions must protect and police trademarks if they wish to retain their rights.

“We are unique in that we are likely the most infringed college university trademark around the world,” Calixto says.

TIGHT-FISTED POLICY

When Calixto is not protecting the Harvard trademark from illegal use, he is responding to legitimate requests from companies wishing to use Harvard’s name and insignia.

Currently, Calixto estimates that there are 140 licenses in the U.S. and many more in Japan, China, and Korea—places where merchandise with the Harvard name and insignia are very popular.

Merchandise approved by Harvard is subject to a 7.5 percent royalties charge on the wholesale price of the goods. The proceeds from these royalties, which amount to approximately $400,000 after subtracting out administrative costs, are then donated to the undergraduate financial aid program.

But even when companies take all the correct steps, getting the rights to use the name of America’s oldest college proves difficult.

“Harvard runs the most conservative university and college licensing office,” Calixto says.

Certain items—including food, weapons, computers, and medicines—are automatically denied, according to Calixto, who says he has rejected requests for novelty items such as Harvard beer, Harvard cigarettes, and Harvard cookies.