The Green Movement Trademarking Controversy and the Dervaes Family - Page 2
The situation has escalated, with the Dervaes family shutting down their own Facebook account and claiming harassment of themselves and their friends. The family has issued its own statement, stating: "Please find the 'cease & desist' phrase in this normal, professional and informative letter. It’s a false, made up claim that people are jumping over themselves to make us look bad."
The opposition has not been quiet, even going as far as starting a petition on change.org to cancel the trademark of "Urban Homestead."
Should the phrase have been allowed to be trademarked? The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has already decided that. What so many find questionable, I believe, is how the family has gone about enforcing their trademark. In the internet/information age, should we be able to trademark ideas?
That is a much larger and more complex question, which delves into the fartest depths of ethics and law. It's no wonder the patenting, trademarking and copyrighting of information is also tied to the outrage over genetically modified crops and copyrighted seeds.
How will the story end? It's unclear at this point, but it will certainly be interesting to find out what happens when the dust clears.
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