A federal judge has thrown out most of St. Louis University's trademark infringement lawsuit against communications professor Avis Meyer.

The university sued Meyer in October 2007, several months after Meyer had filed papers with the Missouri secretary of state's office to create a nonprofit entity with the name of the university's student newspaper, "The University News, a Student Voice Serving Saint Louis University Since 1921."

Meyer's lawyers asked the judge to dismiss six of the seven counts, arguing that Meyer did not publicly use the name of the corporation. The judge agreed that Meyer had not used the university's name "in commerce" and upheld Meyer's motion for summary judgment in an order filed Wednesday.

"The University will be reviewing the decision and will have no additional comment at this time," SLU said in a statement Friday.

Meyer, a former copy editor at the Post-Dispatch who has served as the official and unofficial adviser of the student newspaper for decades, has butted heads with SLU administrators in the past. The more recent flare-up came in the spring of 2007 when SLU officials proposed changes to the newspaper's charter. Some student editors balked at the changes and claimed that the university was trying to take editorial control. SLU officials countered that they were just trying to improve the quality of the newspaper.

Meyer told the court that he had created the nonprofit group during the charter fight because he wanted to "reserve" the name of the newspaper in case students decided to not accept the changes and wanted to move the newspaper off campus. But students ended up agreeing to the university's terms. And at the university's prodding, Meyer dissolved the corporation. Meyer never produced a newspaper or other publication under the nonprofit.

Still, SLU sued Meyer in the hopes of barring him from ever using the university's name or that of the student newspaper. The university sought monetary damages as well as compensation for attorney's fees.

Over the summer, SLU barred Meyer from going to the student newspaper office, saying that his disagreements with the university's new adviser had created confusion and a tense atmosphere for students. A university spokesman said that issue was unrelated to the lawsuit.

In July, SLU also filed a motion with the court asking for sanctions against Meyer for deleting e-mails in which he communicated with others about the lawsuit and his dispute with the university.

In the court's order on Wednesday, Judge Carol Jackson said she will address that issue in a separate ruling.

kkumar@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8017