184: Neighbors
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Back in 1991, a guy in Florida named Arnold Abbott started a charity helping the homeless. They gave out blankets and shoes and soap, served 1,100 meals a week, to help people get jobs. He called the charity "Love Thy Neighbor." A few years later, he was contacted by a woman in Michigan named Catherine Sims, who runs a ministry in business there, called "Love Your Neighbor." She has a cable access show that's on from time to time in Detroit, and a prayer line she advertises in USA Today, she sells t-shirts and bracelets. She had actually trademarked the name "Love Your Neighbor," as the name of her business in ministry. "Love Thy Neighbor" just seemed too close to "Love Your Neighbor" to her. People might want to donate to her, but then give them money to him instead. She tried to convince him to change the name. First politely, now she's suing him. She demanded that I cease and desist using the name "Love Thy Neighbor," turn it over to her, and turn over all profits I've made. Wait, she wanted profits? You had no? Yeah, all the money I've made that I'm taking money away from her, since she owns the name, she said. At this point, I have had to hire an attorney in Detroit, Michigan, to represent us. I had to send a retainer of $5,000, which translates into over $13,000 meals to the homeless. That's what her mouths do. We can put together a beautiful meal for about $0.38, so that's where you have it, and right now it's taking money out of the food out of the mouths of the homeless to defend this kind of lawsuit. She herself is religious, does follow the precepts of Jesus Christ, and she is trying to do God's work, following her very strong scruples. Catherine Sims wouldn't talk to us, Julie Greenberg is her attorney. She points out that U.S. trademark law requires anybody who holds a trademark on a name to go and fight off other people who try to use the same name, even if it's a homeless shelter, with a hundred volunteers serving 6,000 needy people on a budget of $50,000 a year. The trademark law, the only real issue is who used it first in general, and in this case, Rev. Sims used it by ten years first, so... When did Rev. Sims first use it? 1982. If your opponent in this case, if the charity "Love Thy Neighbor" done in Florida, were to employ the principal "Love Thy Neighbor" as they self, in your view, what would they do? He's causing trademark infringement by using this particular choice of words. Pick any other words, any other words that don't cause confusion, and everybody would be better off. But if the idea of the principal is that you treat your neighbor as you would be treated, the way that she would want to be treated is that he would give up the name. Why doesn't she just give up the name? Well, because she has far too much to lose, and I don't think any doctrine of either biblical or civil law requires people to give up something of value to avoid a conflict. Both sides in this dispute claim that they are only trying to love their neighbor. Each side prays to the same God and quotes the same Bible.
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