Currently the City of Branson has stated that it believes that it has a Trade Mark and Service Mark on the term “Branson, Missouri” and is currently using that theory to say it has the federally registered right to the term “Branson.” Even as we speak the City of Branson is engaging in activities to try, in my opinion, to get businesses outside of the City Limits of Branson having the name Branson in them to delete all references to “Branson.” The first example of this activity is a Sep. 15 letter sent to the Branson Sports Club that among other things said:
“The City of Branson, Missouri owns the federally registered service mark BRANSON, MISSOURI (and design) Reg. No. 2,594,679”
and further stated:
“This letter is being sent to you to protest your unauthorized use “Branson” in connection with a business not located within the city limits of Branson, Missouri. This type of deceptive trade practice constitutes trademark infringement under Section 32(1) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C 1114(1); false designation of geographic origin under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1125(a); and violates state trademark statutes and common law principle of unfair competition and misappropriation.”
The letter went on to demand: “Within 10 days of the date of this correspondence, we expect to receive from you a written undertaking that you will formally change the name of your business to delete all references to “Branson.” Alternatively, if you would consent to annexation into the City of Branson when the City is ready to take you in, then we would not prohibit the use of “Branson” in your name.”
On Oct 3, at 5:59 a.m., I sent an email to Mr. Dody as per his request, made in front of the Branson Board of Aldermen at their their Apr. 10 meeting to “ask before I write.” To date all I have received from him is Mr. Link’s letter of Oct. 6, 2006. (HANDOUT copy to each County Commissioner)
In that email I specifically asked for a “Yes” or “No” answer to the following questions:
1. The City of Branson does NOT have a registered Service Mark for the term “Branson" or "BRANSON?" I asked that question because I had been unable to find such a registration. To date I have not received an answer to that question but, based on my research the probable answer would be “Yes, it does NOT have a registered Service Mark for the term “Branson.”
2. The City of Branson does have a registered Service Mark for the “BRANSON, MISSOURI?". I asked this question to see if had anything different from the Service Mark they have registered under the Registration Number 2,594,679. Based on my research the answer would be “No” for the following reasons:
(HANDOUT to each County Commissioner) – The handout that I have just given you is a printout of what the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) for the US Patent and Trade Mark Office shows for the Service Mark covered under that Registration Number.
1. The Service Mark that the City of Branson has registered is the mark pictured to the left and described under “Mark Drawing Code,” Design Search Code, and the “Description of the Mark” portions of the handout. You will note that the Description of the Mark Reads: “ “The mark consists of a circle enclosing a phrase of musical notes, the words "Branson Missouri" with a star in the "o" in Branson, and a design of a mountain range with a river running through it. The stippling is for shading purposes.”
Even more importantly, look immediately above the “Description of the Mark” to the section of the form entitled, “Disclaimer.” It reads in huge capital letters “NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE "BRANSON MISSOURI" APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN.” The governing words are “APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN.”
(HANDOUT to each County Commissioner) – The Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) for the US Patent and Trade Mark Office for the Service Mark(s) “Branson Landing.” Go Down to the DISCLAIMER portion of the form. Now here is a registration made two years after the one they base their claim on and what is the very term they DISCLAIM? “Branson” the very term they are now trying to claim.
What the city has is Service Mark pictured and described in the printout that you see. No more and no less.
In my opinion to then turn around and cite that Service Mark and its registration as the authority for the demands and accusations made in the city’s letter to the Branson Sport Club Inc. on Sep. 15, 2006 is unconscionable.
Unfortunately for Taney County businesses this is an attack by the City of Branson on them as most of them are outside the city. It not reasonable for individual small businesses to have to fight the coordinated power and might of the City of Branson as it asserts claims it might not have. I would request that Taney County take whatever action it deems necessary to protect Taney County businesses from this unreasonable and unwarranted interference and conduct an investigation into the actions of the City of Branson to see whether or not its actions violate any criminal statutes relative to but not restricted to, extortion, intimidation, or coercion.
