In South Dakota:
Vendors say Sturgis trademark hurts business.
Black Hills shop owners who usually carry Sturgis motorcycle rally paraphernalia have seen a drop in business since Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Inc. trademarked such words as "Sturgis" and "Black Hills" in February.
But fear keeps most of them from speaking out. "Everyone is scared," one business owner said Friday, declining to give his name.
Five business owners contacted Friday by the Rapid City Journal declined to comment about the trademark issue, citing a fear that Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Inc., known as SMRi, will "go after us."
Can you trademark the name of a town? Apparently so.
In February, SMRi obtained trademarks on several labels, including Sturgis, Black Hills, Sturgis Bike Week, Sturgis Rally & Races and Take the Ride to Sturgis.
SMRi then sued Rushmore Photo & Gifts, a distributing firm that designs Sturgis souvenir products, for infringement on use, arguing that SMRi has exclusive rights to use the word Sturgis.
Some say the trademark was obtained fraudulently.
Rushmore Photo & Gifts' attorney Aaron Davis of Minneapolis said the trademark registration appears to be "based on a lie." By law, he said, names that are geographically descriptive of a place cannot be trademarked. One exception: If a trademark applicant can prove it was the exclusive user of a geographic name for five years, a trademark could be filed.
That's never been the case in Sturgis, he said. "There is no way that anyone could legitimately swear they were the exclusive user of Sturgis for five years," he said. "How can this not be a fraudulently obtained registration?"
That sign is probably a trademark violation.
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