Enforcement for 'Made in Alaska' logo grows: Federal trademark registration has convincing consequences.

• Author: Hanzuk, Michael
• Position: GUEST AUTHOR

I started work as a development specialist with the State of Alaska, in the Department of Commerce Community and Economic Development, Office of Economic Development in 2006. One of my primary responsibilities would be to oversee the "Made in Alaska" program consisting of more than 1,100-plus participants and working with the contracting program manager Webb Consulting. Being somewhat familiar with the program since it started in 1986, this was exciting for me. Twenty years later, I am helping with a program designed to support entrepreneurs and small businesses in Alaska.

POPULAR LOGO

After reviewing the history of the program, and bringing myself up to speed with how it has developed over the years, I found that many businesses and people over the years have continued trying to capitalize on the popularity of this logo without registering for use of it. This has caused problems with legitimate participants seeing the logo being misused. In 2007, the Office of Economic Development (OED) was asked to visit some of the gift shops around the state, amidst claims illegal products were being sold as "Made in Alaska."

During the peak of the tourist season, I obtained the support of other State OED staff members in the purchasing of particular items, including masks, baskets and jewelry claiming to be made in Alaska. At one location, a purchase was made of a basket of Indonesian origin, embellished with rabbit fur and a piece of imitation ivory. This basket may have been embellished in Alaska, but the basket was obviously not made in Alaska. None the less, the basket retained the "Made in Alaska" mother bear and cub logo sticker on it. When the owner of the shop was confronted with the illegally marked basket, the excuse given at that time was that one of the employees must have retagged the basket by mistake.

Because this seemed to be a common event with some gift shops, I obtained authorization from OED Manager Joe Austerman to inspect gift shops misusing the "Made in Alaska" stickers. To my surprise, several other gift shops were misusing the "Made in Alaska" logo signage to promote items made in Indonesia and other parts of the world.

ILLEGAL USE

Realizing this to be a bigger problem than first anticipated, and with the program's integrity in jeopardy, OED continued with reviewing the law for infringement of a logo. Consulting with the State of Alaska, Department of Law, OED was informed that although the logo was registered within the State...