Dispute over Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS) Logo

The association has been informed that our application to retain the use of our logo has been denied by the US Patent and Trademark Office. We had applied to have our logo and acronym trademarked, as well as four alternate trademark options, which are still pending with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The company known as the "National Academy of American Scholars", who also uses the acronym NAAS, has asked for a delay regarding the decision for approval of our proposed logos stating they need additional time to review the logo for possible opposition by their company.

All member schools and state committees should remove the current "NAAS" acronym and logo from publications, advertising and web sites and no longer refer to the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools as NAAS. At the same time all member schools should immediately block as SPAM the following xxdo.not.replyx@naas.org and any other reference to this bogus organization that solicits funds from students with the promise that they might receive some sort of phony scholarship opportunity. All school counselors should be made aware of this "pay for a lottery chance" type scholarship program that is likely not a legitimate educational scholarship. The entire National Academy of American Scholars has no legal address, contact persons or reliable information and should be blocked from web access, emails, and other Northwest Association member's schools social media.

We will notify all member schools as soon as a decision is made about the use of a new logo, and we will also provide instructions for downloading the logo as soon as it is approved by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Commissioners will be provided with an updated report at the June meeting.

In the meantime, we encourage member schools to continue to realize that the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools is a legal corporation located in the state of Idaho and that being accredited by same is and always has been valid and acknowledged by the other five regional accreditation associations, and all of the commissions on colleges and universities. The Northwest Association of Accredited Schools has been acknowledged since 1917, and along with the other five commissions on schools, we will continue to serve our member schools through our state committees and the division as we have done in the past.

We appreciate your understanding while this issue is being resolved and we will continue to keep you informed.