Franklin College officials are hoping for a quick response to the lawsuit it filed this week in federal court against Ohio-based Franklin University, which is opening a campus in Indianapolis.

Franklin College is concerned that ads for the new Castleton campus will confuse prospective students and employers of Franklin College alumni.

FC President James Moseley expects an initial hearing within 30 days of Monday’s filing.

He said that Franklin University President David Decker called him earlier this year to notify him of the school’s expansion plans.

“I received a kind of quick courtesy call from their president in April.

“It was so out of the blue for me I said ‘Well, thanks.’ Then about a month later, we started to see their ads.”

Of particular concern to the college is its trademark clock tower logo, an iconic image from the school’s Old Main building. Franklin University’s logo has some similarity.

Franklin University issued a statement this week in response to the college’s suit, lamenting that the Indiana school never contacted officials about its concerns. It also defended its ads.

“Franklin University is, and has been, publicizing its presence in Indianapolis using its own name in a completely factual and consistent manner, and in close cooperation with the State of Indiana and the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools,” it said.

“It is unfortunate that Franklin College did not contact us if it had concerns about our marketing, since we did advise the president of Franklin College of our intentions prior to beginning to offer programs in Indianapolis in 2009.”

Moseley said his school heard from about 150 students, faculty and alumni in response to an e-mail from the college about the potential for confusion about the two schools.

“We just want to it to be very clear what each institution actually is.”

Franklin College shares its name with the city in Johnson County where it is located, about 25 miles south of Indianapolis. The college, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, is a liberal arts school with about 1,000 undergraduate students.

By comparison, Franklin University was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1902 and has recently branched out to the Hoosier state.

It serves about 11,000 students annually, said Sherry Mercurio, Franklin University’s director of public relations. The school is based in Columbus and has three other locations in Ohio.

Unlike Franklin College, which offers a traditional liberal arts education on campus, Franklin University offers online and flexible schedule classes for working students.

“A lot of our students do a hybrid schedule where they take one class on campus and one online,” Mercurio said.

In its statement, Franklin University defended its actions and ads.

“Now that Franklin College has chosen to use the legal system to resolve this matter, rather than contacting Franklin University, Franklin (U.) will certainly act to protect the right to use its own name to publicize its programs in a factual and consistent manner.”