The two men founded a small clothing company in 1999 they called Franklin & Marshall Srl., unaware of the Lancaster liberal-arts college of the same name.

When F&M the college caught wind of their venture, officials tried to get them to stop violating U.S. copyright laws. A lawsuit ensued before both sides reached a settlement in June that allows the Italians to continue to sell F&M gear in the United States.

On Thursday, general director Albarelli, stylist Pensiero and publicist Giovanni Motta visited campus to sift through photos of old F&M athletic uniforms in the college archive for design ideas.

Dressed in jeans, Nikes and their company's sweatshirts, the men looked like college students who never grew up.

The two men from Verona share a passion for vintage American sportswear, a trend they thought could spread across Europe's young adults when they founded their company four years ago.

The night they chose a name for their business, Pensiero was wearing an old green-and-white sweatshirt he found in a London thrift shop, the words "Franklin & Marshall College" emblazoned on his chest.

The name stuck.

"The name Franklin & Marshall is very nice," Albarelli said. "It sounds very nice to the ear."

"When we think Franklin & Marshall, we think, "This is America,'" Pensiero said.

They designed a line of faux vintage college sportswear and trained Italian seamstresses in the American arts of flocking and applique. Select boutiques began carrying the Franklin & Marshall line.

Business was growing, and Albarelli started to create a Web site. That's when he discovered "Franklin & Marshall College" was already a prominent name in cyberspace.

On the other side of the Atlantic, F&M started getting calls from alumni traveling abroad who spotted the European clothing line. Country music disc jockeys also began calling after singer Tim McGraw posed in a "Franklin & Marshall Wrestling" T-shirt for promotional photos.

The DJs wanted to know when McGraw graduated.

Albarelli believes McGraw's shirt was not one of his company's designs, but it only intensified the trademark dispute. F&M College tried to dissuade the Italians from using the F&M logo in the United States, then filed a lawsuit Jan. 21.

The suit forced Albarelli and Pensiero to hire an American attorney, one who understood American trademark laws, said Tom Kingston, F&M's vice president for finance and administration.

"What I wanted to do was make them understand that we were very serious about protecting our name," Kingston said. "They honestly didn't understand why they couldn't file the same name as a different kind of company."

In an out-of-court settlement, F&M College signed a licensing agreement in June with Albarelli. The company may now sell merchandise in the United States, but it must give the college an undisclosed cut of its American profits, and F&M College must OK new product lines.

For now, the Franklin & Marshall line includes mainly high-end sportswear. T-shirts retail for $35 to $50; sweatshirts and jackets cost $80 to $110.

F&M College sells its own line of more affordable athletic wear in the college bookstore and on the Internet.

"(The Italians) make a very good, quality product," Kingston said. "As much as we were surprised to see our name everywhere... we weren't upset with what they were making. We wanted to protect our name."

The Italian clothing line is sold in small boutiques across Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Europe.

"Now is a good moment for this kind of product in Europe," Albarelli said. "But we were the first."

Bloomingdales is the only major U.S. outlet to carry the Italian F&M line thus far, but the men are looking for wider distribution.

"In America, the T-shirt is very popular. In Europe, it is not so much," Albarelli said. "(We have) more classic clothes, like shirts and jackets. Only now is arriving the T-shirt (as a) substitute.

"Fashion is moving (toward) the T-shirt and the sweatshirt and comfortable clothing."