INFORMATION


RESOURCES
RESEARCH
COMMUNITY
CORPORATE
The San Diego Daily Transcript is San Diego’s only information company offering business news, data and resources daily and hourly. We report on San Diego business, finance and the San Diego economy, real estate, construction, the U.S. military in San Diego, and San Diego government construction bids.
SEARCH
 


NEWS | SAN DIEGO
OC man wants to trademark names of communities
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Print    E-Mail   

Advertisement

COTO DE CAZA, Calif. -- An Orange County man has filed applications to trademark the name of the enclave where he lives as well as several other communities.
Joseph Lewis Aguirre filed claims on 15 community names in hopes of using them and their symbols for marketing, clothing and other products, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has sought to use the names of Ladera Ranch, Rancho Santa Margarita and Coto de Caza where he lives.
Registration of a trademark doesn't create exclusive rights, but is recognition by the U.S. government of the right of the owner to use the mark in commerce to distinguish its goods from those of others.
Aguirre sent a letter to the CZ Master Homeowners Association in Coto de Caza last month, saying it did not have permission to use the trademarks, which includes the community's name and symbols long used by the association and businesses in the area.
"He tried to tell us we could not use the name 'Coto de Caza,'" homeowners association president Bob Varo said.
Sam Stone, a trademark attorney in Orange County, said if the name of a place is used in a trademark, the owner of the trademark cannot prevent others from using that name as long as it is used to describe the geographical location.
"We're not a commercial enterprise; therefore, we are not subject to these trademark laws relating to geographic names. Any claim against the city would be completely baseless," said Tony Beall, mayor of Rancho Santa Margarita.
Each trademark filing costs $325. Aguirre has filed for trademarks more than 15 times, including two recent filings in 2007, government records show.
The name Coto de Caza was taken from a rough translation from Portuguese meaning "hunting preserve" by the real estate developers who subdivided the area more than 35 years ago. The guard-gated community has more than 14,000 residents and is featured on the cable TV show "The Real Housewives of Orange County."
A similar claim worked its way through the courts last year when a Calabasas man trademarked the term "Malibu Pier" and was sued by the state, which owns the landmark. He lost in court.

Information from: The Orange County Register, www.ocregister.com

User Response

Leave Your Comment

Comments are moderated by SDDT, in accordance with the SDDT Comment Policy, and may not appear on this commentary until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting. Also, due to the volume of comments we receive, not all comments will be posted.

SDDT Comment Policy: SDDT encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. All comments should be relevant to the topic and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. You are solely responsible for your own comments, the consequences of posting those comments, and the consequences of any reliance by you on the comments of others. By submitting your comment, you hereby give SDDT the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying and other information you provide via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. SDDT Privacy Statement.





BUSINESS NEWS

In The News: Early Edition

Nov. 20, 2009, 11:45 a.m. -- San Diego's web video news: Today's breaking major business events, economic, and financial announcements from the Daily Transcript/San Diego Source newsroom.

More Videos...










All contents herein copyright San Diego Source | The Daily Transcript ® 1994-2009

contact info: Iam Pam