Princeton College of Medicine may face legal action from U.

Wade is the creator of the “Princeton College of Medicine,” an online medical education service that he said will decrease the financial burden of students. Wade’s college, however, may face legal action from the University due to the college’s use of the University’s trademarked name.

“We realize that anything that implies that Princeton University has a medical school is misleading,” Assistant Vice President for Communications Lauren Robinson-Brown ’85 said. “In terms of this particular use of the name, we are looking at our options, including legal ones.”

Wade, however, said he believes his school’s name is not a violation of trademark law.

“There are many institutions that have the name Princeton, and some of these are education institutions. There is no infringement,” Wade said, adding that he is supported in this view by a lawyer he has recruited to his team.

Wade said the timeline for his school has not yet been fully formulated and noted that he will largely “have to play it by ear.” He said, though, that within a year he hopes to offer courses covering the first two years of medical school. After taking these courses, students who pass the United States Licensing Exam will be able to transfer to a full medical program, he noted.

Wade has also begun working on a peer-reviewed journal that will be available free of charge on the medical college’s website, princeton-med.org. He said he hopes to have published the first issue within a month.

But Wade’s plans may be hampered should legal difficulties arise. The trademark laws governing the use of “Princeton” are more complicated than those of other universities like Harvard and Yale, because Princeton is a geographical location in addition to the name of a university. Though the University has trademarked both the names “Princeton University” and “Princeton,” it is not clear to what extent the University can force businesses to stop using the latter word.

“When it comes to anything that associates itself with the higher education purpose and the name Princeton, that immediately becomes confusing for the public and we’re much more concerned about it,” Robinson-Brown said.

Robinson-Brown added that the University would rarely object to a store on Nassau Street calling itself the “Princeton Bakery,” for example. She said this was because it would probably be clear that such a bakery was not affiliated with the University.

“The bakery is using a geographical location to establish a name,” she said. “It’s not interfering with our education mission.”

Still, many businesses do approach the University before using the word “Princeton.” Typically, these discussions are amicable, Robinson-Brown said. Businesses are required to submit a summary of what they will do, while movies requesting to use the Princeton name have to submit a script for approval.

If a business chooses to use “Princeton” in its name without first approaching the University, then the University may take appropriate action, Robinson-Brown said.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Wade said he did not ask the University’s permission before naming his college.

Though Wade noted that the school is still in its conceptual stages, its website states that “the faculty, administration, and founders of PCM have published and written with more Nobel laureates than anyone in science and at any medical school in the world.”

Princeton College of Medicine apparel is also already available for sale on the site, though Wade said he does not expect to generate much revenue from sales.

He added that the Princeton College of Medicine is seeking members to supplement its current faculty, but he declined to give the exact number of people affiliated with the school. A number of Princeton alumni have already expressed interest in the college, Wade said.