CHAPTER VII, PART 3. PRIVATIZING THE ARCHIVES

On May 1 2000 Linda Lewis, who is the Coordinator of the USGenWeb Archives Project, submitted an application for a service mark for the term "USGenWeb Archives" to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This action was taken without the knowledge of the USGenWeb Advisory Board, although three Board members [Barbara Dore, Maggie Stewart, Joy Fisher] appear as co-signers on the application. The application is in Linda's name, meaning that any service mark that is granted will be her personal property and may preclude the USGenWeb Project from being able to use its own name without her permission. This action was kept secret until it was discovered by a project member and reported to the project at large on July 15, 2000, over two months after the application was made. Immediately following this exposure, all three Board members who appear as signatories on the application denied any knowledge of Linda's actions, although all admitted to previously discussing with her the possibility of applying for the service mark. Linda herself claimed to have applied for the service mark in order to protect the Archives from unnamed enemies. Both pages of Linda's application are posted online [page 1, page 2]; the current status of her application may also be searched at the USPTO's web page. Thus far, Linda has refused to either withdraw her application or to amend it to show USGenWeb as the applicant.

It was not until December 2000 that the USGenWeb Advisory Board was able to pass a motion to apply in the project's behalf for a service mark for the term "USGenWeb"; as of this writing [December 27, 2000], the Board is still "researching" the forms and procedure and no action has been taken. The passage of Motion 00-39 followed months of failed motions to remove Linda from the project and/or the Archives, declare her, Barbara, Maggie and Joy to be not in good standing, and to apply for a service mark either for "USGenWeb" or "The USGenWeb Project." Because Linda's application preceded any application that the project may make it will take precedence, and USGenWeb now finds itself in the curious position of having to ask Linda Lewis for permission to file for a service mark for its own name.

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© 2000 by Teresa Lindquist, all rights reserved. The opinions expressed above are solely those of the author; they may not reflect those of the USGenWeb Project or its members. The USGenWeb Project Advisory Board does not endorse this site and is not affiliated with it. Most of the preceding information was gleaned from the archives of various USGW Project-associated mailing lists, personal communications, and interviews with various participants.