Mr. NC, if you want to do something about one of the Census Projects using the USGenWeb Project name without authorization, the time of opposition is here. One of the census projects is about to acquire a service mark from the federal government for the name "The USGenWeb Census Project." If they are successfull, then they can possibly give the other census project some legal problems. It only takes about $358 to file a letter of opposition, I think, and I don't believe it is worth it. Besides, that census project did not stand in the way of our two service marks, even though they files first. But it is something the AB might want to think about, if they are going to try to resolve this issue. Here is the latest news from TARR Thank you for your request. Here are the latest results from the TARR web server. This page was generated by the TARR system on 2003-12-01 12:49:55 ET Serial Number: 78047841 Registration Number: (NOT AVAILABLE) Mark (words only): THE USGENWEB CENSUS PROJECT Standard Character claim: No Current Status: Final review prior to publication has been completed, application will be published for opposition. Date of Status: 2003-10-23 Filing Date: 2001-02-12 The Information will be/was published in the Official Gazette on 2003-12-02 Transformed into a National Application: No Registration Date: (DATE NOT AVAILABLE) Law Office Assigned: LAW OFFICE 110 Attorney Assigned: SMITH REBECCA A Employee Location Current Location: 650 -Publication And Issue Section Date In Location: 2003-10-23 _________________________________________________________________ LAST APPLICANT(S)/OWNER(S) OF RECORD _________________________________________________________________ 1. USGenWeb Census Project, The Address: USGenWeb Census Project, The 3246 East Maple Flint, MI 48507 United States Legal Entity Type: Corporation State or Country of Incorporation: Michigan _________________________________________________________________ GOODS AND/OR SERVICES _________________________________________________________________ Providing an on-line computer database in the field of GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH SERVICES, NAMELY, PROVIDING AN ON-LINE DATABASE OF GENEALOGICAL ENUMERATIONS, TRANSCRIBED BY VOLUNTEERS, WHICH IS FREELY ACCESSIBLE AND SEARCHABLE International Class: 042 First Use Date: 1998-07-01 First Use in Commerce Date: 1998-07-01 Basis: 1(a) _________________________________________________________________ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION _________________________________________________________________ Disclaimer: "THE" AND "CENSUS PROJECT" _________________________________________________________________ MADRID PROTOCOL INFORMATION _________________________________________________________________ (NOT AVAILABLE) _________________________________________________________________ PROSECUTION HISTORY _________________________________________________________________ 2003-11-12 - Notice of publication 2003-09-23 - Approved for Pub - Principal Register (Initial exam) 2003-08-12 - Communication received from applicant 2003-09-06 - Case File in TICRS 2003-08-12 - PAPER RECEIVED 2003-01-21 - Communication received from applicant 2003-01-21 - PAPER RECEIVED 2002-07-15 - Communication received from applicant 2002-07-15 - PAPER RECEIVED 2002-01-07 - Communication received from applicant 2001-10-02 - Letter of suspension mailed 2001-08-07 - Communication received from applicant 2001-07-11 - Non-final action mailed 2001-06-27 - Case file assigned to examining attorney _________________________________________________________________ CONTACT INFORMATION _________________________________________________________________ Correspondent (Owner) The USGenWeb Census Project 3246 East Maple Flint MI 48507 _________________________________________________________________ David On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, Isaiah Harrison wrote: > There seems to be some misunderstanding regarding the changed wording and > relocation of some links from the National Site. > > 1) No one has been delinked. Some links were changed and reworded, but all > the links that were there are still there. > > 2) The AB never voted to have links to the census projects placed on the > main page of the National Site. The webmaster made that decision on her > own. The AB voted to " > > 3) The AB's resolution did not change the status of either of the renegade > census projects. It simply allowed for links to them. > This change was made because the AB recently had to respond to a complaint > regarding an issue with one of the census projects and because I receive a > couple or several messages each month from people who are confused because > there are two "USGenWeb Census Projects" or who want some or the other > census project issue resolved. The current wording and location leads > people to believe these projects have a different connection to the > USGenWeb Project than they actually do. > > 5) It is unreasonable to expect me, or any AB member, to abandon their > holiday plans in order to deal with a non-emergency issue, such as this one. > > Just because I've made no complaint was made in the past, it doesn't mean > that I was ever happy with the misleading wording and placement of the > links to the census projects, or that there is not a valid complaint now. > Both the wording (projects made up of USGenWeb volunteers) and the > placement (on the main page) imply a relationship that is not there. Does > someone need to be a member of the USGenWeb Project to be a member of > either of the census projects? No. Do organizations generally link to > outside projects that use their name without authorization on the main page > of their site? No. > > There is a census project that is part of The USGenWeb Project--The > USGenWeb Archives Census Project. That is the project that ought to be > linked to on our main page--not those census projects that steal the files > and run and choose not to be part of The USGebWeb Project. It is > unfortunate that so long as those links are on the main page of our > site, the census projects have no motivation to resolve their differences > nor to resolve their differences with The USGenWeb Project. They're already > getting the publicity they want--why should they make any effort to resolve > the basic problem. > > However, in order to prevent this non-issue from taking over the time that > needs to be spent on other matters, I will yield to the opinion of the AB > and restore the links to their previous location and wording. It is > unfortunate that so long as those links are there the census projects have > no motivation to resolve their differences nor to resolve their differences > with The USGenWeb Project. They're already getting the publicity they want. > > Perhaps this discussion of the situation will lead the AB to make some > effort to find a fair and permanent solution, but I wouldn't hold my > breath. The AB seems to be uninterested in devoting time or energy to any > issue that does not involve a threat to their perceived authority. They > seem too be far more adept at expressing their individual opinions on > specific issues than they are at putting in the effort to reach a consensus > > -Isaiah > > > ==== BOARD Mailing List ==== > Standing Procedures for the Advisory Board are located at: > http://www.usgenweb.com/official/standing-procedures.html > > David W. Morgan dmorgan@efn.org Honolulu Hawaii SC - TXGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~txgenweb/ FM - http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/txfiles.htm ** http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dmorgan/