Cartoon stick figure standing on a basketball and pointing at a whiteboard reading UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN – representing a blog post about Final Four 2026 trademark registrations for the University of Michigan.

Trademark: Michigan

First Used: 1879

Registered: 1984

Current Owner: Regents of the University of Michigan [1]

Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark; design mark

Primarily Associated With: entertainment services-namely, conducting collegiate athletic events [2]

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [3]:

MARCH MADNESS® is winding down and the FINAL FOUR® is set. Congrats to the Illinois Fighting Illini, Arizona Wildcats, Michigan Wolverines, and the UConn Huskies. The games don’t start until next weekend, but let’s get an early jump on some trademark portfolios! Today, let’s look at some history and trademark registrations for the University of Michigan.

The University of Michigan was established in 1817 in Detroit as the Catholepistemiad of Michigania, making it one of the oldest public universities in the country. The institution was renamed the University of Michigan in 1821 and moved to Ann Arbor in 1837. The men’s basketball team began play in 1917. In the last 40 years the program has grown into one of the most successful in the Big Ten, with four Big Ten Tournament Championships (1998, 2017, 2018, 2025), nine Final Fours (1964, 1965, 1976, 1989, 1992, 1993, 2013, 2018, 2026), and one national championship (1989).

But the most famous Michigan team is not the title-winning group. It is the Fab Five: Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson, a freshman class that took Michigan to back-to-back national championship games in 1992 and 1993 and helped change college basketball’s look and culture with baggy shorts, black socks, swagger, and a style that still gets talked about today. And we would be remiss if we didn’t note that FAB FIVE® is also a registered trademark owned by Jalen Rose, in connection with clothing [4].

The school owns word mark registrations for MICHIGAN® [5] (for clothing and conducting collegiate athletic events), UMICH® [6] (for providing courses of instruction and conducting collegiate athletic events), WOLVERINES® [7] (for organizing a wide range of sporting events), M GO BLUE® [8] (for key rings, pennants, and flags), and MAIZE RAGE® [9] (for clothing).

Of course, the Michigan “M” logo is one of the most recognizable logos across college sports. The school owns a few design mark registrations for logo variations, including the M Logo design mark [10], M Michigan design mark [11], and M University of Michigan design mark [12], all registered with a wide range of goods and services. The school also owns a unique design mark registration for its mascot: the Wolverine design mark [13] is registered in connection with caps, sweatshirts, and t-shirts.

Interested in matchups from other years? Check out our post on the 2025 Final Four, featuring the Duke Blue Devils, Houston Cougars, Auburn Tigers, and champion Florida Gators.

Interested in learning more about other 2026 sporting events? Check out our 2026 posts on the College Football National Championship, Team USA in the Winter Olympics, and the Super Bowl.