Talk:Wrenn v. Boy Scouts of America

From "History of Scouting in the US" article
In July 2003, the BSA filed a Notice of Opposition with the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) against the founder of the Youthscouts, claiming that the registration and continued use of the term "Youthscouts" would be "likely to cause confusion, deception, mistake, and misrepresentation" regarding the name's source or sponsorship, and would cause injury and damage to the BSA. Their grounds for opposition include an allegation that the word "Scout" is recognized by Americans as being connected with the BSA and points out that some dictionaries' definition of "Scout" includes "a member of the Boy Scouts". The founder of the Youthscouts responded in September 2003 by filing a lawsuit with a U.S. District Court asking for the cancellation of BSA's federal trademark registrations, claiming among other things that, "The BSA is guilty of unclean hands resulting from the BSA's violation of the antitrust laws of the United States, including, without limitation, obtaining registrations involving generic or descriptive terms through fraud, and using such registrations to prevent competitors from using the terms, in an illegal effort by [the BSA] to monopolize and maintain a monopoly in the market for scouting programs for boys."

The Court had been waiting on a judgment by the TTAB but due to the delay it decided to lift its stay and proceed in August 2007. The TTAB subsequently suspended its proceedings pending final disposition of the civil action. --Jagz (talk) 16:11, 14 February 2008 (UTC)