The Electronic Frontier Foundation is coming to the rescue of an online dating site for Mormons in a case involving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church is trying to block the site from being named Mormon Match amid accusations that the term "Mormon" breaches the church's intellectual property rights.
The legal flap concerns Jonathan Eller, the man behind the startup website, and Intellectual Reserve Inc., (IRI), which is the holding company for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Eller has filed to trademark his site's name, while the holding company has moved to block it before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
"IRI cannot restrict Eller from using the word “Mormon” to describe his Mormon matching service as 'Mormon Match,' any more than Burger King® could prevent In-n-Out Burger® from including the term 'burger' in its name," the EFF wrote in a Texas federal court amicus brief.
For its part, Utah-based Intellectual Reserve does indeed own multiple trademarked terms, in addition to "Mormon," that are related to the word. Among them, they include Book of Mormon, Mormon.org, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, The Mormon Church, and many others (PDF).
In a court filing in which Eller is counter-suing the holding company, Intellectual Reserve said that it "owns exclusive rights in a family of MORMON marks and that the laws of the United States prohibit Plaintiff from using any confusingly similar mark containing the word MORMON in connection with Plaintiff's commercial activities" (PDF).
The dateamormon.com site homepage has an opening message from Eller: "We love The Lord, we want to find our match, and we want to help you find yours. Sign up, Like our FB page (we won't sell your info unless they are offering a LOT of money... kidding, kidding), leave your comments, and join us in what will be the most active online LDS singles dating site, ever! Until then, remember who you are and guard your carnal treasure."
Meanwhile, the EFF says in its court filing that Eller has a right to use the term. The digital rights group urged the court to promptly rule in his favor to "help deter future trademark 'bullies' from abusing the legal process."
Corynne McSherry, the EFF's IP director, said in a statement that "[t]rademarks are supposed to be used to protect from unfair competition, not to stifle a small business or to control language."
A hearing has been set for August 8 before US District Judge Sim Lake of the Southern District of Texas.
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