[P2P-F] Intellectual Property (& theft of the commons)

[Sandwichman]

>
> DENVER - The trade name claim filed on Thursday to lock down the rights to
> the phrase "Occupy Denver" has been withdrawn.
>
> According to a filing on Saturday morning with Secretary of State's
> office, the attorney who had filed the original claim withdrew.
>
> 9NEWS first reported on this story on Friday.
>
> The trade name claim didn't come from movement organizers, but from the
> address of a law firm run by a prominent supporter of Gov. John
> Hickenlooper and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.
>
> Hickenlooper and Hancock have been strongly criticized by Occupy Denver
> protestors for their handling of the weeks-long encampment in downtown
> Denver.
>
> "It struck me as strange," Occupy Denver protestor Jason Roth said. "I
> doubt that it's a coincidence because of the connection between these
> people and our elected representatives."
>
> The filing came from the office of Bookhardt and O'Toole, a law firm
> specializing in municipal bond work. The firm's founding partner is Dawn
> Bookhardt, one of five transition committee co-chairs for Hancock and a
> high-profile Hickenlooper supporter who donated just short of the maximum
> amount to his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
>
> "Wow. That's interesting," a protestor who asked to be identified as JJ
> said. "I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist or anything, but that seems
> like something Hickenlooper would do to undermine this movement, to
> undermine what we're trying to fight for here."
>
> Hancock declined comment Friday.
>
> Roth says Occupy Denver organizers hadn't filed for trade name protection
> because they had other priorities.
>
> "We've been in fair use of that name for at least three weeks now," Roth
> said. "If a corporate lawyer were to come down here and say cease and
> desist, do not use 'Occupy Denver,' I think our legal team would be in
> court fairly quickly."
>
> The filing by Bookhardt & O'Toole attorney Mike Schneider only states that
> the filer "transacts business of contemplates transacting business" under
> the name Occupy Denver, describing the business as "Educational Forums."
>
> By email, Schneider declined to comment on the filing to 9Wants to Know
> investigator Kyle Clark. He later emailed to say the trade name statement
> was not related to Bookhardt and O'Toole.
>
> Dawn Bookhardt says Schneider's actions were "unauthorized."
>
> "My understanding is that he did it on his own," Bookhardt said by phone.
> "Frankly, I'm stunned."
>
> Bookhardt says Schneider was "in trouble" for using the firm's time,
> resources and address to file a trade name claim for personal use. She
> denied her firm is trying to undercut Occupy Denver.
>
> "Typical. That's what corporate America is all about," protestor Cameron
> Kelly, who joined the protest during a visit to Colorado from New York,
> said.
>
> "I think people have put two and two and two together and they're seeing
> that we're getting screwed," Kelly said, turning to a 9NEWS
> photojournalist. "Can you say that on TV?"
>
>
>
>
>
>
-- 
Sandwichman
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