If anyone in the world — a high school in Texas, a college in New England, a university in Japan — wants to install an artificial turf field of any color besides green, it must first receive permission from the occupant of a corner office in a brick building at the center of the campus of Boise State University.

The office belongs to Rachael Bickerton, a London-born former music-licensing lawyer who had never seen football before she came to Idaho. For the past nine years, she has been the director of trademark licensing and enforcement for Boise State. In addition to protecting the university’s name and brand, she defends Boise State’s iconic blue turf football field from any copycats who would dull its luster.

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No institution has challenged Boise State’s trademark interpretation, but several experts said they believed that a school wanting a non-blue, non-green field would most likely succeed if it did. It is impractical to think that any momentary confusion would change purchasing decisions or sports allegiance, said Mark Lemley, a trademark expert and Stanford University professor.

“I see why they do it,” he said of Boise State defending its turf, “but it’s not a patent. Trademark law is designed to protect consumers from being confused. It seems unlikely that someone would be confused at all, and even if they are, it still seems ludicrous.”