Trademark lunacy - outrage by greens over trademarking the word "urban" when linked to "homestead"

jennontheisland said:

Kelly is a friend of mine, and this is ridiculous. It's a book title, and it's what their blog was called before they were offered the book deal.

All kinds of books use all kinds of phrases in their titles, some of which are trademarked. And yet Coke didn't go after Faith No More for calling one of their albums "The Real Thing."

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February 13, 2011​

Sender Information:
Dervaes Institute
Sent by:
[Private]


Pasadena, CA, 91103, USA


Recipient Information:

Google, Inc. [Websearch]


Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA



Sent via: online form: Form

Re: Infringement Notification via Websearch Complaint

1. Complainant's Information

Name:
Company name: Dervaes Institute
Full legal name of the copyright holder: Dervaes Institute A Corporation Sole
Country of residence: US

2. Your copyrighted work

Location of copyrighted work (where your authorized work is located):

www.pathtofreedom.com
Description of the copyrighted work:
http://urbanhomesteading.com/trademark.html
DERVAES INSTITUTE
[redacted], Presiding Officer
[redacted]
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) [redacted]
[redacted]@dervaesinstitute.org

To Whom It May Concern:


This notice is to inform you of important matters regarding the published
works and/or brand names of Jules Dervaes and Dervaes Institute. We are
extremely supportive of members of our online communities; fans of our
websites, writings and photographs; and others who help to spread
information regarding sustainable living. However, we must also guard
against the unauthorized use or exploitation of our intellectual property
for commercial gain. From the beginning, our work published online and in
other media has been copyrighted and trademarked. We have now secured
registered trademarks for certain unique names and images. By protecting
our intellectual property we are better able to ensure that our work is
presented accurately and contributes to our sustainable living projects and
educational initiatives.

As you may know, the Dervaes family has been practicing sustainable living
in Pasadena, Calif., since 1985. Our work has been documented and shared
online at www.urbanhomestead.org and other websites since 2001, receiving
national and international media attention. Additionally, we produced an
award-winning short documentary film about our project, called Homegrown
Revolution, which has been featured at film festivals around the world and
on Oprah’s 2009 Earth Day television special. Over the last 25 years, our
family has created a wealth of intellectual property in the field of
sustainable living. Through the Dervaes Institute, we have been committed
to freely educating others about the practices and benefits of
self-sufficiency.

We realize that your use of Dervaes published words and/or trademarks may
have been inadvertent. We are generally able to resolve any such uses
without involving our legal counsel. This would require that you update
your websites and articles to properly cite our works. For example, the
writings of Jules Dervaes about sustainable living are original protected
works in which Dervaes owns exclusive rights. Content from the Dervaes
websites, including text and photographs, are also protected works.

When using Dervaes materials, the proper way to go about it is as follows:
Only use a small sample of our work in any single instance; Copy the portion used in its entirety - do not paraphrase or extract portions of images or paragraphs;

Make it clear – by using quotation marks or different font size or color –
that the Dervaes materials referenced are from another source;
Include a prominent link or reference to the original source of the content
used on a Dervaes website.

In addition, Dervaes Institute owns numerous trademarks which should be
properly acknowledged if used. These protected names and images include the
following registered trademarks:


URBAN HOMESTEAD®
URBAN HOMESTEADING®
PATH TO FREEDOM®
GROW THE FUTURE®
HOMEGROWN REVOLUTION®
FREEDOM GARDENS®
LITTLE HOMESTEAD IN THE CITY® (pending)
Also, THE TEN ELEMENTS OF URBAN HOMSTEADING copyright has been filed with
the Library of Congress.

If your use of one of these phrases is not to specifically identify
products or services from the Dervaes Institute, then it would be proper to
use generic terms to replace the registered trademark you are using. For
example, when discussing general homesteading or other people’s projects,
they should be referred to using terms such as ‘modern homesteading,’
‘urban sustainability projects,’ or similar descriptions.


When using a phrase listed above to refer to the work of the Dervaes
Institute, proper trademark usage should include the proper trademark
notice [®], use the protected phrase in all capital letters, and note in
close proximity that the term is a protected trademark of Dervaes Institute.

Thank you in advance for respecting our legally protected intellectual
property rights. If you have been supportive of our ten-year online work in
the past, we appreciate very much your continued support.

If you have any questions regarding the use of Dervaes materials or
trademarks, please contact us at (626)[redacted]. We would be glad to
provide you with more details.

Regards,
[redacted]
Dervaes Institute
3. Allegedly Infringing Material:

URL of the allegedly infringing material in our search results:


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=kelly+Coyne&x=7&y=18

Sworn Statements

I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly infringing is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. [checked]


I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. [checked]
Signed on this date of:

February 13, 2011

Signature
[Private]

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Participants receiving Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG)
funds may charge eligible administrative
expenses incurred in operating
their [CENSORED!!] programs to
their otherwise available CDBG administrative
funds, provided such administrative
expenditures would satisfy​

other title I requirements.

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Urban Homesteading​

By the Mother Earth News editors
September/October 1980 ​

There's a whole new kind of low-cost property available in this country . . . and people who are willing to invest a little time, effort, and money are getting some great bargains.​

Urban Homesteading


A hundred years ago, "go west, young man" was good advice .. . after all, the western sky was big and clear, and land was free for the taking. Well, the Homestead Act was repealed in 1976, and there isn't any more undeveloped "free land" to be had in the United States. But—as many people are discovering—it's still possible to homestead ... in the heart of many American cities! And in these days of fuel shortages and transportation problems, folks with urban jobs are finding out that "citysteading" can be energy-efficient and—in general—not a bad idea at all!

Urban homesteading programs—which allow people to purchase (for a dollar down!) and renovate decaying urban properties—came about as a response to the metropolitan housing crisis of the late 1960's. About that time, the middle-class flight to the suburbs had led to an increased need for city services on the part of the poor who remained behind . . . and taxes rose as the tax base fell.

Many landlords—neglecting required maintenance—squeezed the last penny from their properties and then walked away from back-tax bills. The abandoned buildings began to blight entire neighborhoods, more and more property dropped from the tax rolls, and the cycle of vandalism and arson took hold.​

The original citysteading programs—which started in 1973 in Wilmington, Delaware ... Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ... and Baltimore, Maryland—were begun to help break the cycle of urban decline. Then, in 1974, the federal government entered the picture with the passage of the Housing and Community Development Act ... and the stockpile of federally owned homes (most of which resulted from defaults on FHA mortgages) joined the numbers of municipally owned taxdelinquent buildings. By 1975, demonstration programs were underway in 23 cities . . . and now, nearly 90 urban areas participate!​

HOW IT WORKS​

MOTHER recently sent staffer Peter Hemingson to Baltimore to observe the workings of what's generally considered one of the best urban homesteading programs. Both city-owned and federally repossessed houses are included in the Chesapeake Bay city's setup, and—while some requirements differ from one piece of property to another—the general homesteading procedure is the same.​

The Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development selectsfrom a pool of tax-delinquent homes, FHA foreclosures, and buildings acquired in urban development programs-houses that are suitable for renovation. The list of properties is announced, and the public is invited to apply for their purchase. (The Baltimore program has no residency requirements, but some city programs do have such limitations.)​

[snip]​

​

...

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

How to save money, time, and the environment-on the urban frontier.

With The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Urban Homesteading anyone can learn how to live sustainably and responsibly-and save money and time-in any urban environment. Expert urban homesteader Sundari Elizabeth Kraft shares her hands-on knowledge of: growing organic foods and preserving them; composting; raising small livestock and chickens; generating electricity and biofuels; and other ways to cut costs and live green. This book has all the information required to become a successful urban homesteader in any city.

• Practical advice on everything from composting to clean energy.

• Sundari Elizabeth Kraft is an expert in urban homesteading.



About the Author

Sundari Elizabeth Kraft has been a dedicated urban homesteader for nearly a decade. Currently, she homesteads in Denver with her chickens, goats, and organic front yard garden. She organizes a group of community volunteers to grow vegetables in city yards, then sells and distributes the produce in the neighborhood. She sits on the Denver Food Policy Council and works with a number of local urban sustainability groups. Sundari teaches classes in backyard chicken and goat keeping, urban gardening, canning, and cooking.

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Jules Dervaes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jules Dervaes (born 1947) is an urban farmer and a proponent of the most recent wave of the decades old urban homesteading movement.

Dervaes runs Path to Freedom, a website about self-sufficiency and urban gardening.

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Trademark Controversy

In 2008, the Dervaes filed to trademark the terms "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading," among others. In October 2010 their trademark was finally approved under the supplemental registry after initially being denied for not being distinctive enough. In 2011 they began sending notifications to maintainers of websites who used these terms that these terms were now under their trademark and that they were not to be used without crediting the Dervaes family. Critics (such as blogger Crunchy Chicken) claim that this trademark is unenforceable, since the term "urban homestead" has been in use since at least the early 1970s.

The Dervaes Institute asserts that it's protecting a legitimate business interest, and that its trademark of the term "urban homesteading" prevents other corporations from trademarking it.

This has caused an uproar within the urban homesteading community and created a backlash against the Dervaes family. A diverse group of urban homesteaders are planning a day of blogging about the situation on Monday, 21 Feb 2010, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation has gotten involved[10].

On February 16, 2011, the Dervaes shut down their Facebook page, blaming the negative press stemming from this controversy.

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