Trademark Battle on the ThirdCoast: Michigan v. M22

• Date: 01 June 2023
• Author: Andrew Jurgensen

June 27, 2023FEATURE

Trademark Battle on the Third

Coast: Michigan v. M22

Andrew Jurgensen

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©2023. Published in Landslide, Vol. 15, No. 4, June/July 2023, by the American

Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This

information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any

form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system

without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the

copyright holder.

M 22 is a Michigan state trunkline highway that originates in the resort

community of Traverse City, Michigan, and travels the Lake Michigan coastline,

including west to Grand Traverse Bay and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National

Lakeshore, until its termination three miles north of Manistee, Michigan. This

area of Michigan has long served as a coastal retreat for Chicago and Detroit

residents and was named “Most Beautiful Place in America” by ABC

In 2003, two local kiteboarding brothers who had spent years constantly

driving along M 22 to nd the best kiteboarding spots in the Midwest started to

sell apparel with a modied version of the M 22 road sign (M22 mark). They

had previously made shirts with the M22 mark for themselves and friends, but

after one of the brothers appeared on the cover of a popular local magazine

wearing one of their shirts, interest piqued and the M22 brand was established.

The business exploded, and eventually M22 applied for and received federal

trademark registrations for its name and logo for a variety of retail oerings

sold under the brand

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