Well pardner, I guess this trademark isn't big enough for both of us.
Posted on 12/21/2003 11:08:37 AM PST by Theodore R.
Officials kick up fuss over horse and rider trademark
By Ilene Olson rep3@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE - A battle over rights to Wyoming's bucking horse and rider trademark is brewing between the Secretary of State's Office and a Texas organization.
Pat Arp, deputy secretary of state, told the Joint Appropriations Interim Committee earlier this month that office will need money to fight a challenge of Wyoming's right to the trademark.
The challenge came from the Texas Stampede, an organization benefiting two medical centers that care for children in Dallas. That organization has been using the bucking horse and rider since its inception in 2001.
"We noticed that they were using Wyoming's trademark, and they were trying to register it at the federal level," Arp said Friday.
"We opposed their registration. They turned around and counter-filed with a claim that Wyoming had abandoned its trademark.
"We're sort of puzzled as to why they would want to take this on," she told the JAC.
Amy Sheahan, marketing director for Texas Stampede, said the matter is before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office board.
"Until that's resolved, we can't comment on it," she said.
Officials at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office also declined to comment.
Wyoming has used the bucking horse and rider since 1918, when it was used during World War I as an insignia worn by members of the Wyoming National Guard in France and Germany.
The bucking horse and rider first appeared on Wyoming's license plates in 1936. That year, the state got a copyright for the trademark. The state has used the bucking horse continuously since that time.
Arp said, "As owner of the trademark on behalf of Wyoming citizens, we take all infringements very seriously. To my knowledge, no one has every previously claimed that Wyoming has abandoned its mark."
The Secretary of State's proposed budget includes $20,000 for legal costs to fight the challenge. If the process becomes long and drawn out, it could cost more, Arp said.
"If it proceeds through an entire process of litigation and hearings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, it could take quite a few months," she said.
Arp said she and others gave depositions on the matter on Thursday.
Sen. John Schiffer, R-Kaycee, said, "I think there are people in Texas who consider Wyoming as one of their outer provinces."
He encouraged Arp and Secretary of State Joe Meyer to protect the state's trademark.
Arp said, "The Secretary of State's office is very aware that Wyomingites are very proud of the mark."
Actually, WY was once an "outer province" of TX. The Laramie section (not Cheyenne) was part of the State of Texas between 1845 and 1850. The current TX boundaries with OK and NM were fixed under Henry Clay's Compromise of 1850. Thereafter TX no longer jutted northward into southern WY.
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