[Lnc-business] protecting party assets

[Nicholas Sarwark]

FYI to Alicia and others: I will add time to the agenda for this, most
likely immediately following the special counsel's report, so we can
most efficiently use his time while maintaining it as it's own agenda
item.

Not that I would tell you guys how to use your emailing time, but we
will be able to discuss this in person if the body wishes to.

-Nick

On Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 1:13 AM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com> wrote:
> Oliver Hall's attention is requested for this email:
>
> LP Bylaws, Article 5.1, "No person, group or organization may use the name
> "Libertarian Party" or any confusingly similar designation except the Party
> or an organization to which the Party grants affiliate party status or as
> otherwise provided in these bylaws."
>
> This provides a very narrow scope for use of our party name.  Yet one only
> has to search on Facebook for the name "Libertarian Party", and you will
> find many groups that are not the national party, and are not an affiliate
> of the national party, but they use our party name to increase their profile
> in search results, build their own following, and use the group for their
> own purposes.
>
> One such example can be found here:  (fair warning - this page contains
> varying degrees of nudity)
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/233590827023815/
>
> We also have a trademark on the name "Libertarian Party".  My understanding
> of intellectual property law is that we need to actively defend our right to
> the name or else over time we diminish our ability to successfully defend
> it.
>
> Our bylaws don't mention the logo, but am I correct to presume that we have
> also staked out a legal claim to our past and present logos?
>
> I also see other groups (not our affiliates) using our logo in their memes,
> incorporated into their own logos, etc.
>
> Some of these could potentially be rectified by merely asking the groups to
> cease using our name and/or logo.  Others might need to receive
> cease-and-desist letters from our attorney.
>
> I'd like to discuss this at our upcoming LNC meeting.  Perhaps it makes
> sense to just make it part of the Special Counsel agenda item, since we'll
> likely want to chat with Mr. Hall about it.
>
> -Alicia
>
>
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