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Letter from the General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, dated June 28, 2007
The following is a copy of the
letter received from the General Conference of Seventh-day
Adventists' legal department demanding that Guthrie
Memorial Adventist Chapel change its name.
SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTIST CHURCH
General Conference
World Headquarters
Office of General Counsel
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, Maryland
20904-6600 USA
Telephone (301) 680-6320
Fax (301 680-6329
June 28, 2007
CERTIFIED MAIL
Mr. Fillmer Hevener
Route 2, Box 1425
Farmville, VA 23901
Re: Guthrie Memorial Adventist Chapel
Trademark/Service Mark Infringement
False Designation of
Origin
Unfair Competition
Dilution
U.S. Reg. Nos. 176,153 and 1,218,657
ADVENTIST(R)
Dear Mr. Hevener:
The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day
Adventists(R) Office of
General Counsel, represents the Seventh-day Adventist(R)
Church and the
General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists(R)
in many legal
matters, including protecting the Church's intellectual
property rights.
The General Conference Corporation of Seventh-day
Adventists is the
registrant of the above-captioned ADVENTIST(R)
trademarks/service marks
and the owner of the common law mark ''SDA(TM)."
I have been informed that you were once a member of the
Seventh-day
Adventist(R) Church family, but sadly chose to leave the
Church and form
your own congregation called Guthrie Memorial Adventist
Chapel. Please
understand that since you decided to leave the sisterhood
of Seventh-day
Adventist(R) churches, you can no longer identify your
congregation with
any of the Church's registered trademarks/service marks
such as ADVENTIST(R). Therefore your current use of ADVENTIST(R)
is unauthorized
and contrary to the express wishes of the Potomac
Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists (R).
Your congregation's use of the ADVENTIST(R) mark in the
name of its
religious organization constitutes any one or all of
infringement, false
designation of origin, unfair competition and federal
dilution under the
trademark (Lanham) Act, as well as dilution under most
anti-dilution laws
of the individual states of the United States. A name such
as yours that
uses evident marks of the Seventh-day Adventist(R) Church,
causes
immediate initial likelihood of confusion because
____________________________________________
F. Hevener
Guthrie Memorial Adventist Chapel
June 28, 2007
Page 2 of 3
a person immediately associates the name directly with
sponsorship by the
Seventh-day Adventist(R) Church as to the source of
products or services
associated therewith.
We have brought this matter to your attention to request
that you
immediately cease and desist from using the registered
marks of the
Seventh-day Adventist(R) Church; and that you choose
another name for your
religious organization that does not infringe on the
Church's intellectual
property rights. In choosing your new identification,
please note that
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST(R) is also a registered
trademark/service mark and
is not available for use in identifying your religious
organization. Like
wise, the Church has common law intellectual property
rights to SDA(TM),
and your congregation must refrain from its use with
respect to your
religious organization as well.
Kindly confirm your compliance with these demands in
writing as well as by
removing the Church's trademarks/service marks from any
signage,
literature, domain names, websites, brochures, and from
any other place,
location or other use within the next thirty (30) calendar
days.
This letter is written without prejudice to all further
rights of the
Seventh-day Adventist(R) Church including, but not by way
of limitation,
the right to injunctive relief to obtain the cessation of
your use of
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST(R), ADVENTIST(R) and SDA(TM) in any
manner in
association with your activities.
I write this letter with all due respect. It is not
intended to interfere
with your religious practices; however, because you no
longer subscribe to
the beliefs and practices of the Seventh-day Adventist(R)
Church, you must
select another name rather than use the name adopted and
used by the
Seventh-day Adventist(R) Church for almost 150 years.
Please feel free to contact my office if you wish to
discuss this further.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Robert E. Kyte
General Counsel
REK: Ibm
____________________________________________
F. Hevener
Guthrie Memorial Adventist Chapel
June 28, 2007
Page 3 of 3
AGREEMENT
I, Fillmer Hevener, as a representative of the GUTHRIE
MEMORIAL ADVENTIST
CHAPEL, hereby agree to immediately cease and desist from
using the
registered trademark/service mark ADVENTlST(R) in
identifying my
congregation. Further, I agree to refrain from using any
of the
Seventh-day Adventist(R) Church's registered
trademarks/service marks in
my activities without the express written consent of the
General
Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists(R),
Office of General
Counsel.
Agreed to and signed this __ day of ________ , 2007.
_______________________________
Fillmer Hevener
Organization Name: Guthrie Memorial Adventist Chapel
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