Rare are church trademark disputes. The reason is that most marks selected by churches as marketing logos are generic to the religious tradition represented. However, church trademarks are not impossible and may in the future be more prevalent, as well as litigated, as the struggle for separate identity in electronic media deepens. After all, churches are moving away from brick and mortar locations solely and trying to become “virtual,” too. To be successful economic church models require marketing, and marketing invariably involves logos for identification.

In Holy Spirit Association v World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, Memorandum Opinion, United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania, July 22, 2019, the federal trial court before it had motions to dismiss the cases on the pleadings. The motions were overruled so the case will continue through discovery and trial if it is not otherwise settled. Trademark cases are often settled by licensing agreements. Trademark disputes are brought under the federal Lanham Act, 15 USC §1114, et. seq. In this case, the Plaintiff registered what it called the Twelve Gates Mark. The Defendant called it the Tongil Symbol. The Plaintiff registered it as the trademark of its church and the Defendant claimed it was a mark created by the founder of the tradition or denomination. Of course, that meant both churches were in the same tradition or denomination, or at least originally so, for their dispute was over a symbol both claimed to have been created by the founder of the tradition or denomination, Reverend Sun Myung Moon. The federal court held that the dispute could be resolved using the Neutral Principles of Law arising around trademarks. From the opinion’s recitation of the positions of the parties in their preliminary pleadings, the central issue will be whether the symbol was “generic,” a Lanham Act statutory classification similar to the meaning of the word in the common tongue, or was, indeed, actually created only for the Plaintiff local church.

Symbols used by churches are generally “generic” arising from their history, tradition or denomination. If the symbol appears on grave markers, church buildings or historically verifiable documents the likelihood it will be “generic” seems insurmountable. Indeed, most come from computer clip art sold commercially. Only a trademark made by a local or contract artist are likely to survive, and then only if the trademark is truly original and not merely a reinterpretation of a historical image used by the tradition or denomination.

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