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Church Trademark Used to Sell Coffee Shop T-shirts

Friday 23rd of March 2007 10:50:21 PM

When the small coffee shop, Just Add Coffee, located in Taylosville, Utah, USA decided to use the image of angel on their greeting cards and T-Shirts, they didn’t know how much publicity they would actually receive. The angel in question is the angel Moroni, used by The Church of Latter-Day Saints, whose headquarters are located in Utah. According to their intellectual property office, the image of the angle is their trademark.

T-Shirts bearing the image of the angle Moroni positioning a trumpet below a coffee pot is the best selling t-shirt Just Add Coffee has ever designed. “We're not out to hurt anyone. We're not out to be mean or spiteful. They've been the best-selling T-Shirts we've ever done,” said co-owner Ed Beezer. When the church sent the coffee shop a letter asking them to stop selling the t-shirts, they posted the letter at the register and told customers that they ‘got into trouble’ for selling t-shirts.

The owners of the coffee shop have asked the church to supply proof that they have a trademark. “If they provide proof, we're going to comply. We don't want to break any laws or anything,” said Beezer. The church has not replied directly to the owners of the coffee shop, but they have gone on television to say that the image is one of their trademarks. Until they produce proof, the T-Shirts will stay on sale. “We don't know if we're going to be able to sell them much longer,” said co-owner Van Lidell.

But out of respect for the church, the owners did pull ads showing the image of the angel Moroni from the newspaper. Until the issue is resolved, it is anyone’s guess as to what will happen next.

(c)Katie Waybill, www.sxc.hu