A group of state trademarks filed in October by Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Nancy Carpenter on behalf of the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation has been viewed as a power grab by critics.
But Carpenter defended the move as a routine practice designed to protect events in the city.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office database, trademarks were issued to the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation (CCHF) for six events, including two Columbus Pilgrimage events trademarked to two different entities issued 16 days apart in September and October.
On Sept. 20, the newly-formed Preservation Society of Columbus (PSC) was issued a trademark for “Columbus Spring Pilgrimage,” according to the Secretary of State database.
The group applied for the trademark two days after it informed CCHF by letter of its intentions to take over operation of Pilgrimage in 2021.
“We trademarked the name in the course of setting up our organization,” said PSC board member Kathy Novotny. “It’s just something you do.”
Prior to PSC’s application, there was no current trademark for an event identified as the Columbus Pilgrimage, the database showed.
Then, on Oct. 4, Carpenter applied for a separate trademark for “Columbus MS Spring Pilgrimage,” four days before the CCHF board met to respond to PSC’s letter. On Oct. 8, the board voted to relinquish operations of Pilgrimage immediately, amending that at a later board meeting, to relinquish operations in 2021.
Carpenter said she filed the additional trademark under the name of CCHF to include “MS.”
“That’s all it was,” she said. “There are about 10 Columbuses out there in other states that I know of. It’s important to make sure that the event is identified with Columbus, Mississippi.”
Novotny said she didn’t understand the need for a new state trademark
“Mississippi trademarks only apply to Mississippi,” she said. “If Columbus, Ohio, decided to use the same name, the Mississippi trademark wouldn’t apply. I don’t get it.”
Carpenter also filed state trademarks on behalf of CCHF for Catfish in the Alley, Ghosts and Legends Tour, Kickoff Party, Pilgrimage 5K and Tastes of Columbus.
Other events
According to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office, Mississippi allows businesses or individuals to register a trademark or service mark with the state. The ability to register this mark is not dependent upon any registration of a trademark or service mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Under Mississippi Code 75-25-1(a), a trademark is “any word, name, symbol, or device or any combination thereof used by a person to identify and distinguish the goods of such person, including a unique product, from those manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods.”
Other local event organizations were also caught off guard by the new trademarks.
“I am surprised,” said Columbus Arts Council director Jan Miller, who said one of the CCHF events trademarked in October — Ghosts and Legends Tour — is largely produced by CAC. “The implications are, she owns it. I am concerned. I wasn’t told anything about it. Our board doesn’t know about it. It came out of nowhere.”
Carpenter insisted the trademarks were not an effort to assume ownership of events, but a routine renewal of trademarks that had lapsed.
“We had trademarks for events in 2011 that were good for five years,” Carpenter said. “When the Secretary of State’s Office sent the renewal notice, it was sent to an old email address and no one was aware of it. What we did was renew those trademarks. It wasn’t an attempt to take over anything. We want to work with groups, not take them over.”
For another event, “Taste of Columbus,” having a name similar to one of the trademarked names could lead to confusion.
The inaugural Taste of Columbus was held Sept. 22 at Zachary’s Restaurant. Originally, the event, which is a fundraiser for Main Street Columbus, was called “The Burger Bash.”
“Doug Pellum and Colin Kreiger, who put the event on every year, wanted to change the name so it could include different restaurants and different kinds of foods,” Main Street Columbus Director Barbara Bigelow said. “When we heard about the trademark it caught us by surprise.”
Kreiger said he would likely advocate to change the name again.
“We’re not involved with (CCHF) at all,” he said. “We don’t get any funding from them.”
Carpenter said there was no intent on her part to interfere with the event.
“We came up with Tastes of Columbus years ago as part of our advertising strategy,” she said, providing a copy of an ad featuring the slogan from 2017 and an ad in the current edition of Progress Magazine. “I never made any connection to their event. That was never even a thought.”
She said trademarking Ghosts and Legends Tour was a renewal of one of the 2011 trademarks that had expired.
“(CCHF) has always been a sponsor,” Miller said. “They did start the event, but we, the (Columbus) Arts Council, took it over years ago and have built it up after they decided they didn’t want to run it anymore. (CCHF) provides the buses, hot chocolate and some lanterns, but it’s the art council that organizes it, plans it, brings in the volunteers. We certainly feel like it’s our event.”
Carpenter said CCHF assists the Ghost and Legends Tour beyond simply funding.
“At times we’ve paid for advertising when it’s been necessary,” she said. “We also host the event at the Tennessee Williams home. One or two of our staff is always there to greet the buses. We do tours of the Williams home, provide hot chocolate and hang lanterns.
“So to say we have nothing to do with it is not true,” she added. “We are intimately involved. It’s an event that we partner with, just like so many other events. We’re not trying to own it. That’s not what this is about.”
While organizers whose events now fall under the CCHF trademark are uncertain about the implications, Carpenter said she’s believes too much is being made of the issue.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “I really don’t. We have to stop all this bickering. It’s not good for our visitors. It’s not good for our businesses. It’s not good for anyone. We all need to work together. That’s certainly what I want.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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Kathy Novotny
Jan Miller
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Rebecca Hester rehearses at The Haven for the 2016 Ghosts and Legends Tour in this Dispatch file photo. Though the tours have always been a joint effort between multiple organizations, Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Nancy Carpenter trademarked the event's name on behalf of Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation, along with five other Columbus events. Photo by: Dispatch file photo
The Columbus city double decker tour bus stops outside of Bakerville Manor during the home's first day on the Pilgrimage Tour of Homes in 2016. Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Nancy Carpenter trademarked "Columbus MS Spring Pilgrimage" on behalf of Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation last month. Photo by: Dispatch file photo
