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In case someone besides me, missed this.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001 15:00:42 -0500
From: "Garnett J.(Joe) Zsedeny" <jzsed(a)westelcom.com>
To: "USGWCONF-L(a)rootsweb.com" <USGWCONF-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Subject: Pledge Call
The donor letter for the pledge call is sent as an attachment to try and
hold the formatting. Anyone not receiving the letter please email me and
I will include it in the body of a messge.
Thanks
Joe
--
Zsedeny Genealogy -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~jzed/home.htm
NDGenWeb Archives -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/nd/ndfiles.htm
Pembina County, ND -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndpembin/pembina.htm
Ramsey County, ND -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndramsey/ramsey.htm
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Content-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.33.0103081938103.15098@rain>
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The USGenWeb Service Mark Committee is now ready to collect funds to cover the costs
associated with The USGenWeb Project's application to the U.S. Patent & Trademark
Office (USPTO) for the Collective Service Marks "USGenWeb" and "The
USGenWeb Project." The appropriate mark is a Service Mark (rather than a trademark)
because The USGenWeb Project deals in services rather than products, and the Collective
Mark is appropriate because the mark is used by the members of an association.
The application forms for both marks are available for public viewing at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~jzed/tm/
We have engaged in extensive consultation with an attorney who is a patent/trademark
specialist, and his recommendation is that the Project apply for both marks listed above,
because a successful application for "The USGenWeb Project" is more likely,
while a successful application for "USGenWeb" would provide the Project with
greater protection of our name.
In both cases, it should be emphasized that success is not assured, although we believe we
are getting excellent legal advice, and our attorney is optimistic about the likelihood of
successful applications. There are factors involved, however, which make it impossible to
predict exactly what will happen.
The total costs are estimated to be approximately $1125. The application fee is $325 for
each mark ($650), and the patent/trademark attorney's fee is $425 (plus incidental
expenses like phone calls, postage, photocopying, etc. which we estimate at perhaps $50).
Thanks to the pledges of 153 members of the Project, an amount well in excess of $1125 has
been pledged. It is our calculation that expenses for this effort can be covered with a
maximum contribution of $10 from any one person. These calculations can be viewed at
http://home.kscable.com/jschunk/servicemark.html
Thus, we would ask all those who have pledged $10 or more to contribute $10, and all who
pledged an amount under $10 to contribute the amount of their pledge.
Your check or money order should be paid payable to Teri Pettit (who has agreed to serve
as Service Mark Fund Manager). Please send your payment to: Teri Pettit, Adobe Systems
Inc., San Jose CA 95110-2704.
Let me again note that this contribution is NOT tax-deductible.
A public accounting of the handling of all funds will be recorded at the URL mentioned
previously (
http://home.kscable.com/jschunk/servicemark.html). Each contribution will be
listed, including (1) amount and (2) name of the contributor.
If you should wish for your contribution to be anonymous, simply reply to
jzsed(a)westelcom.com (and a cc to jschunk(a)skpub.com) with a Codename of your choosing, and
your contribution will be listed on the webpage under the Codename, rather than your
actual name. Only Teri Pettit, John Schunk, and I will know your identity. (Those who
have already supplied me with a Codename need not do so again.)
It is also our intention to scan and upload copies of checks issued by Teri in connection
with this effort. Copies of invoices will also be scanned and uploaded.
If contributions should exceed total costs, any extra funds will be returned to the
senders.
Once again, I would like to extend my appreciation to each of you who is contributing to
support this effort. I believe this is an important step in protecting the name and
integrity of The USGenWeb Project, and each of you plays a vital part in making this
project the best free genealogical project on the Web.
Joe Zsedeny
Chair, USGenWeb Service Mark Committee
jzsed(a)westelcom.com
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