Farm group loses suit over logo

MAT-SU — A Superior Court judge issued a summary judgment Wednesday that quashes an attempt by the Mat-Su Chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau to register the Alaska Grown logo as a federal trademark.

The judgment, handed down by Judge Jack Smith, says the chapter has no legal claim to the logo and the state Department of Agriculture’s case was strong enough to not go to a trial. In his five-page ruling, Smith says the state can seek triple damages and profits from the chapter’s unauthorized use of the logo, and orders the Mat-Su Farm Bureau group to turn over any items it has that bear the Alaska Grown logo.

Rob Wells, president of the Mat-Su Chapter, referred questions about the summary judgment to the group’s attorney, Michael Jungrels of Anchorage.

“I think part of the judge’s ruling is officers aren’t supposed to talk about it,” Well said.

Jungrels said the ruling is a blow for the local Farm Bureau.

“It’s fair to say the judge didn’t rule in the Mat-Su Chapter’s [way] on any issue whatsoever,” Jungrels said, adding it hasn’t been determined if the decision will be appealed. “Call me back in a week.”

In oral arguments about the motion for summary judgment last month, Jungrels and Assistant Attorney General Steven Ross argued their claims to the Alaska Grown logo. The Mat-Su Chapter has maintained the state wasn’t safeguarding the logo and that, as the main user and promoter of the logo on apparel, it would be. Ross equated the trademark filing to an attempt at a hostile takeover of the image so the Mat-Su Chapter could have a monopoly on the logo’s use on apparel.

Wednesday’s ruling “decides once and for all the state owns the Alaska Grown logo,” Ross said. “The court rejected all the claims {made by the local chapter]. The point of the lawsuit is to establish the state is the sole and only owner of the logo and the Mat-Su Chapter had no legal claim to the logo.”

Jungrels said he wasn’t immediately aware of whether the Mat-Su Chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau has any Alaska Grown inventory but said the chapter “will comply with all applicable orders.”

Damages in the case will be determined by a jury and a proceeding is set for May 27. Although the judge’s order says the state is entitled to seek triple damages and profits the chapter earned from unauthorized use of the logo, Ross said it is unclear now to what extent the state will push for the damages. The profits outlined in the ruling are from Dec. 7, 2005, and later, when the state ordered the chapter to cease all use of the logo and abandon its federal trademark filing. An injunction issued by Judge Smith in August froze any monies earned through the logo’s use by the Mat-Su Chapter, including its annual T-shirt sales at the Alaska State Fair.

The size of any penalties and profits the chapter may be ordered to pay could be devastating to the state’s largest Farm Bureau group, Jungrels said.

“There are definitely potentially serious consequences from the penalties,” he said.

Both Ross and Jungrels said the dispute over the Alaska Grown logo progressed so far because of an unwillingness from the other side to come to terms with an agreement to settle the dispute.

Jungrels said the parties met with a Palmer judge in March 2007 and hammered out a settlement agreement with which all parties were comfortable.

“We made attempts to settle with the state,” he said. “The Mat-Su Chapter, to this day, has an approved settlement and the state doesn’t want to settle on those lines anymore.”

Ross said the March settlement meeting was followed up with an all-day session in May, which was the fifth time the sides met to try and settle. During that May meeting, a final settlement was reached that both sides agreed on, Ross said. The only holdup was it needed to be signed by the Mat-Su Chapter’s president. Then, the chapter came back and said he couldn’t sign; instead, it required approval from a vote of the membership.

“There wasn’t a final settlement [in March],” Ross said. “The final points had been worked out when we had this all-day session … in May. It makes no sense if you say there’s the agreement back in March, then spend an entire day in May literally going through it page by page, provision by provision. At the end of the day, we had final settlement documents.”

Jungrels said the Mat-Su Chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau represents the largest agriculture area in the state and most of the farmers in its boundaries. Whether losing the Alaska Grown logo dispute will mean a death sentence for the chapter will largely be determined by a jury deciding damages, he said.

The Mat-Su Chapter had nearly 200 members in 2007.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2268.