Princeton In Dispute With Merrill Lynch Over the Naming of Mutual Fund
TRENTON, N.J.
There’s a Princeton Auto Body, a Princeton Dental Group, a Princeton Driving School and even a Hooters of Princeton. But the university that has shared the hoity-toity community’s name for more than 100 years says it’s drawing the line over a Wall Street investment house’s decision to sell “Princeton” mutual funds.
Princeton University’s legal counsel contacted Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. recently to complain about the company renaming its mutual funds “Princeton Portfolio Research & Management.”
“The university feels strongly about defending its name and we have actively and successfully challenged the use of its name in the past,” said Cass Cliatt, a university spokeswoman.
Cliatt cited a 2005 agreement with test prep company Princeton Review in which the company agreed to include disclaimers on its materials that the two are not related.
Merrill Lynch insists that corporate use of the Princeton name is fair game because it characterizes a place, not an institution. The new name, it says, refers to the mutual fund business being based in the Princeton area, in neighboring Plainsboro.
