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03.30.2007 (previous | next)
Trademark Dogma

The Intellectual Property Office of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormons), have sent a cease and desist letter to the owner of a small coffee shop in Utah. It seems the shop has used an image of a statue of the angel Moroni in its rather clever advertising. The church's IP office claims that this is a violation of a registered trademark.

An opinion piece in the Daily Herald sums up one side the dispute nicely but I, not being an expert in trademark law, question whether the statue could actually be trademarked. It seems that the work of art itself, commissioned by the LDS, would be protected by copyright. Anyone?

posted by Amy Smorodin @ 1:09 PM | Access: Commons, Fair Use, Orphan Works, Public Domain, Art, Enforcement & Remedies

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As I noted here, there's no entry protecting the likeness of the Angel Moroni in the US PTO's trademark register, nor does one show up in a search of the database of state trademarks.

There may be a common law trademark cause of action or a copyright claim, but there appear to be no registered trademarks.

Posted by: Mr. X at March 30, 2007 4:19 PM

My understanding is that it can be both. Copyright protects original works of authorship, and trademarks protect symbols which have acquired secondary meaning as the identification of a business or product. Without getting into whether the LDS Church is a business, nothing stops the statue from falling into both categories.

Posted by: John Gordon at March 30, 2007 4:19 PM

Link didn't work in the previous comment. Here it is: http://www.sarwark.org/writings/2007/03/of-angels-coffee-and-trademarks.html

Posted by: Mr. X at March 30, 2007 4:29 PM








 
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