Local farm group rejects state's logo offer

May 9, 2006

JOEL DAVIDSON

Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - The ongoing dispute over who owns the popular &#8220Alaska Grown” logo seems headed for court. On Monday, the Mat-Su chapter of the Alaska Farm Bureau rejected the state Division of Agriculture's most recent proposal to give the state exclusive control over all aspects of the logo.

The Mat-Su chapter contends that the state has no right to regulate the sale and promotion of clothing and apparel emblazoned with the Alaska Grown logo.

For the past 20 years, the Mat-Su chapter, along with several other agricultural nonprofit organizations, sold T-shirts, ball caps, sweaters and other paraphernalia marked with the popular symbol. The money raised went back to promoting

the state's agricultural

products.

Creation of the logo was a cooperative effort between the Division of Agriculture and state farmers in 1985. At that time, hundreds of farmers statewide agreed to use the now famous Alaska Grown mark to distinguish Alaska vegetables and agricultural products from out-of-state competitors.

As a side benefit, agricultural nonprofits also raised money from the logo by selling T-shirts and other clothing.

For their part, Division of Agriculture officials registered the trademark with the state in 1986 and agreed to certify that all farmers met certain quality-control guidelines before using the logo to promote agricultural products. In addition, the division assured state farmers that only nonprofit entities affiliated with Alaska's agricultural industry could use the logo to sell promotional items such as clothing.

The arrangement worked fine for nearly two decades, as nonprofits, led primarily by the Alaska Farm Bureau's Mat-Su chapter, promoted the trademark through selling thousands of &#8220Alaska Grown” clothing items at the Alaska State Fair. The logo is now recognized statewide as a distinguishing mark for Alaska farm products.

In 2004, however, the Mat-Su chapter complained that the state failed to uphold its agreement to protect the use of the logo from nonagricultural entities such as T-shirt shops and gift stores that used bootlegged versions of the mark to turn a profit.

Karen Olson, executive director of the Mat-Su chapter, said her organization asked the state, multiple times, to police the logo's usage.

&#8220We verbally asked them over and over,” she said. &#8220I asked them once in a letter and never got a response.”

Olson said the Mat-Su chapter was concerned that the logo would fall into public domain and thereby lose its ability to generate needed funds to support Alaska agriculture.

State officials, however, contend that they only received one letter from the Mat-Su chapter, which they followed up on by telling an Anchorage T-shirt shop to stop selling a bootlegged version of the logo.

The Mat-Su chapter, however, was not satisfied with the state's regulation efforts. In January 2005, amid growing frustration, the chapter finally filed for federal trademark ownership of the Alaska Grown logo as it appears on clothing and apparel.

The state, however, claims to be the rightful owners of the logo, not only as it appears on farm products but also as it appears on clothing and promotional apparel. In February, the state filed a lawsuit against the Mat-Su chapter for trademark infringement in Anchorage Superior Court.

The lawsuit was temporarily suspended during negotiations, but the state's final offer to the Mat-Su chapter included a warning that should the group fail to sign the agreement by May 8, the state would reactivate its pending lawsuit to settle the ownership dispute in court.

Division of Agriculture Director Larry DeVilbiss said the two aspects of the logo go hand in hand and they need to be owned by a single entity in order to best work in conjunction.

&#8220The promotional side of the logo is supposed to support the selling of produce,” he said. &#8220If those two programs are not working together, then the whole thing falls apart.”

The Mat-Su chapter contends that its prime mission is to promote Alaska Grown produce. The T-shirt sales just provide operational money.

&#8220Our chapter has a a long history of independent action supporting local farmers, local food and local farm marketing efforts,” said Rob Wells, president of the Mat-Su chapter.

DeVilbiss didn't deny the successful work of the Mat-Su chapter, but he said the working relationship changed after the nonprofit publicly attacked his division by claiming that it failed to regulate the logo.

Now, DeVilbiss said he is concerned that the Mat-Su chapter may no longer be able to work in conjunction with the state without the possibility of pitting the clothing usage of the logo against the produce usage. Without state control of the logo, DeVilbiss said he is worried that it might simply become a way for nonprofits to make money off T-shirts without working with the state to promote agriculture.

&#8220It has that potential,” he said, &#8220especially with the communication and the public statements that have been made. It would be like having two owners, and this is a program that should be integrated in its management.”

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266 or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.