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News :: Miscellaneous |
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OWNERSHIP OF ILLINOIS SEAL RETURNS TO ITS CITIZENS |
Current rating: 0 |
by Anna Barnes
(No verified email address)
Phone: 217.239.3686
Address: 701 W. Washington St. Champaign, IL 61820 |
30 Mar 2001
Modified: 01 Apr 2001 |
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Due to a 100+ year oversight and narrow interpretation of the IL Constitution by state legal officials, the state seal recently was used by former state officers to endorse political candidates. This, on top of having been used in ash trays and belt buckles. However, a $10 service mark registration by a private citizen on behalf of the Illinois Secretary of State's office (ironically the office in charge of service marks) will return authority for protecting the people's seal to the SOS as was originally intended. According to state officials, the application is likely to be processed. |
It’s been used on collectible coins, belt buckles, even ashtrays—Harry Truman had one on his desk, in fact. However, if one citizen’s request is approved, the only people allowed to use the Illinois state seal will be those conducting official state business.
“For the last few months, I’ve had to look at George Bush parading around in the presidential seal like it was a Tommy Hilfiger logo. When I saw the former governor using the state seal to endorse a school board candidate in a community he doesn’t even live in, it was just too much,” says Anna Barnes of Champaign.
On Friday, Barnes filed an application on behalf of the Secretary of State’s office to service mark the Illinois state seal, thereby protecting it from unofficial uses.
“I called the Secretary of State’s office and discovered that the seal had never been protected in over a hundred years of use. I knew that it was possible for a state agency to service mark a logo since I had researched the issue for a client only the week before. I filled out the form and sent it down to the Trademark office with a $10 check. It was as simple as that,” said Barnes who runs a communications consulting firm.
She added, “The state seal is the property of the citizens of Illinois, it shouldn’t be able to be sold or be used to sell commodities and services. Over the years, people have used it to hold up their pants and put out their cigarettes. And while those uses may be tasteless, some of the current uses could be encouraging fraud. Right now, you can buy electronic versions of the state seal on the Internet. If the State is serious about protecting intellectual property rights and preventing consumer fraud, then this oversight needs to be corrected. This seemed like the most expedient way to do it.”
According to Linda Akers who heads the State’s Trademark office (ironically part of the Secretary of State's Office), there doesn’t appear to be anything that could preclude the application from being processed. “If people are selling electronic versions of the seal, then we need to get that nipped in the bud,” she said. |
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Great Story - Good Follow-up |
by Mike Lehman
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
30 Mar 2001
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This is a bizarre situation. Once again the citizens of Illinois are in a situation where political leadership uses the law (or lack thereof) to take advantage of the citizenry. We ought to wise up and vote 90% of them out of office. I'm glad to see you are doing something about this. I hope some old pols end up choking on cigar smoke in a smoky back room somewhere when they find out about this.
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