The following is from information that Boundary.News received regarding an incident between The Bonners Ferry Herald & Boundary County Employees, and the Boundary County Watchman group.
“The Bonners Ferry Herald has asked me for a statement for an article they are writing. Apparently, the Herald has been privy to a Cease and Desist letter from Boundary County allegedly addressed to me regarding the use of the Boundary County’s flag. Why is a newspaper privy to a legal letter prior to me?
I have not received a letter or any communication in regards to using the county flag. Should I receive this letter or any other communication I will be glad to investigate the claim, should I be at fault I will be glad to remedy the issue. Out of curiosity, I decided to do some research on the use of a municipality flag. It seems a similar case has already been to trial and was deemed that a municipality insignia cannot be trademarked. Could you imagine not being able to use the American flag freely? I mean even the State of Idaho has instructions on the Secretary of State’s website on how to use the Idaho State seal…
The posted statements on my pages:
“We are citizens of Boundary County standing guard watching. We post events, meetings, openings for jobs & other positions. Also, potential accountability issues and more. Disclaimer: We are not endorsed, authorized or sponsored by any entity or government agency.”
There is a similar case from another jurisdiction, outlined below.
Related Case Info:
Article on the case:
Tina Renna, Plaintiff, v. THE COUNTY OF UNION, N.J., Defendant:
https://casetext.com/case/renna-v-cnty-of-union-3
To dig deep here is the Section 43(A) Of The Lanham Act
https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2639&context=wlulr
”
The photo below is an example of the flag in question:
The following was pulled from the Idaho State official website, regarding seals and emblems:
I saw that the Herald published an article about this before the county actually sent any supposed letter. It is obvious that the Herald and the county officials are working together to slam the Boundary County Watchman.
Keep up the GREAT work. Their petty BS is only that.