Two logos you can take to the Banks.

• Author: Murray, Arthur O.
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler - OBX-Stock Inc. challenges SOBX logo

If he has to, Jim Douglas is willing to be an SOB about SOBX. The acronym stands for Southern Outer Banks, which he says is a rip-off of OBX, his logo for the Outer Banks. The Kitty Hawk resident came up with it -- OB for Outer Banks, X to make it plural -- in 1994. He spent $250 for 2,500 stickers, which he put on cars parked at his three restaurants. "It was a couple of months before I started selling them."

Next came OBX key chains and license plates, then clothing. In '96, he and three partners formed OBX-Stock Inc. to manage the logo. It appears on 35 items sold in North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Most are manufactured for OBX-Stock, but it licenses the logo to a microbrewery and a water bottler. He won't reveal revenue but says sales have grown each year.

The company has stopped a Pennsylvania cap company, an Outer Banks real-estate office and others from using it. Four years ago, it applied for a trademark, granted in July. Now he's mulling action against Atlantic Beach resident Christie Roberson, who says SOBX stands for the "more relaxed, laid-back lifestyle" south of Cape Hatteras. She puts it on clothing and souvenirs sold in about 50 stores. She not only has her own trademark, she got it first...