The logo of the Georgia Native Plant Society, designed by one of our dear founder members Linda Fraser almost 20 years ago, is naturally very precious to our Society, so when we learned of an attempt to duplicate it elsewhere, the BOD made an executive decision to apply for its protection.
In Spring 2014 the BOD sought legal advice on this matter and learned we should apply to register the name Georgia Native Plant Society and our logo/trademark at both the state and the federal level. We applied for protection under category Int. Cl.:41 for Educational Services, namely developing, conducting and arranging educational programs in the nature of educational seminars, workshops, symposia and conferences all in the field of stewardship and conservation of Georgia native plants and their habitats in class 41 (U.S. CLS. 100, 101 and 107).
The application process took many months, despite the professional assistance of the attorney, with the requirement of submitting multiple pieces of evidence showing how and where we have used our name and this logo over the years. The good news is that earlier this year we heard that the GNPS logo was approved at the state level in Georgia. The better news is that we can now proudly announce that this protection has also been approved at the federal level. Here is our claim:
“THE MARK CONSISTS OF THE WORDING “GEORGIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY” IN STYLIZED CURSIVE FONT APPEARING ABOVE THE DEPITCION OF THE STYLIZED WORDING “HYDRANGEA QUERCIFOLIA” AS WELL AS THE DEPICTION OF A STYLIZED SCHEMATIC OF A CLUSTER OF HYDRANGEA QUERCIFOLIA FLOWERS ON A BRANCH. THERE IS AN INCOMPLETE RECTANGLE GONG FROM ONE SIDE OF THE “GEORGIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY” WORDING TO THE OTHER WHICH ALSO SURROUNDS THE WORDING “HYDRANGEA QUERCIFOLIA” AS WELL AS THE DEPICTION OF THE STYLIZED SCHEMATIC OF A CLUSTER OF “HYDRANGEA QUERCIFOLIA” FLOWERS ON A BRANCH.”
Thank you to everyone who helped gather materials and again to Linda Fraser for giving GNPS this beautiful gift, which will now be safeguarded for generations to come.