We Won!!

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FIRE. CIDER. IS. GENERIC. 
The “Fire Cider 3”, Kathi Langelier of Herbal Revolution, (ME)  Mary Blue of Farmacy Herbs (RI) and Nicole Telkes of Wildflower School of Botanical Medicine, (TX) have had their day in court!!  The trial lasted 9 days and was a huge effort by many involved!! Judge Mastroianni of Springfield, MA federal court has determined in a 40-page decision that fire cider is a generic term!!
Their trial started during the Spring Equinox with the moon in Libra and we ended with the Fall Equinox with the Sun in Libra… LIBRA is JUSTICE!!! 

Click here for more info about this story!

What does this mean? can sleep at night again!! 

The trial is over and we can sleep again at night!

We are tying up loose ends with the USPTO to finish cancellation on the mark.  

We have been through the wringer and have come out stronger!!! We have founded life long friendships with each other and members of the herbal community. 

The herbal community is strong!! We stood together and defended our traditions and language. THANK YOU. 

Why is this decision so important?
This is a precedent-setting case…. Meaning that if another corporation tries to trademark a generic herbal term (or a term from any other small community), this case can be referred to. The judge’s decision recognizes that terms are generic in RELEVANT communities. This means that a term does NOT have to be known to the wider public to be protected by genericism!!!! 

The Fire Cider 3 were represented by Verrill Dana Law Firm of Portland Maine (L to R) James Goggin, Seth Coburn and Jen Harrell. MANY MANY Thanks to them for believing in us and working so hard during the last 5 years!!! They put their hearts and minds into this, and they are the reason we prevailed!!
Thank you to all our witnesses who traveled to testify and our supporters who made us food, sat in the courtroom and gave us hugs during the trial!!!!

Some of the witnesses from L to R:
Monica Rude, Rosemary Gladstar, Mary Blue, Greta De La Montagne, Nicole Telkes, Kathi Langelier and Crystal Davidson

What are the next steps?? 

  • Our goal is to create a dictionary of generic herbal terms and create an “herbal commons”. 
  • If you are going to trademark an original term, please use critical thinking and research before pursuing a trademark. Act with compassion and love and respect for herbal traditions and each other. 
  • There are still some unknowns and we’ll tackle those as they come, but for now……

W E  C E L E B R A T E !!!!

We all freed fire cider together! We love you all~

Traditions Not Trademarks~
Nicole, Mary, Kathi, and Rosemary
October 13,  2019

The trial is over, now we wait….

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The team!!
(L to R) Defendants: Nicole Telkes, Mary Blue, Rosemary Gladstar, Kathi Langelier, Legal team from Verill Dana: Jim Goggin, Seth Coburn and Jen Harrell
The Fire Cider 3 with Rosemary
(L to R) Nicole Telkes, Mary Blue, Rosemary Gladstar and Kathi Langelier

Click here for the backstory

The Fire Cider trial started March 25, 2019, and ran through July 2, 2019. We had to travel back and forth to Springfield, MA federal court 4 times making the trial a total of 9 days. The court had other cases to hear, and our trial had so many witnesses, we kept having to schedule more time to come back! We now wait to hear the verdict. The judge has as much time as he needs to decide. We will be posting updates when hear! So sit tight, and join us for the ride!! Thank you for your continued support!!

The federal courthouse in Springfield, MA is made of all glass and was built around ancient Linden and Beech trees. There was Black Cohosh flowering under the trees on the last day of the trial!!

The Trial

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The trial began on the 25th and is currently ongoing. At this time, the best way to offer support is to donate additional funding to cover the on-going costs. The community has been showing up for us in such beautiful and inspiring ways… thank you all for your amazing generosity and support! Please donate here https://freefirecider.com/donate/

2018-Update

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From Rosemary-
Hi Friends,
It’s winter and definitely time for Trademark Free Fire Cider! This years flu season has been setting records! Make sure to get your Trademark Free Fire Cider brewing!  Its one of the best tonics to keep you healthy during the winter months and to ‘keep the bugs at bay’.   And while you’re at it, try this great recipe for Trademark Free Fire Cider from Mountain Rose and my Fire Cider chutney (see recipes below).  We’re hoping the Pirates won’t try to trademark these recipes as well!

 Unfortunately, the issue surrounding Fire Cider’s trademark continues and the law suit that Shire City served to the ‘Fire Cider Three’ ~ is ongoing.
 We continue to need your support in helping us win this case!  We are waiting to hear our trial date! We do have costs surrounding this! Please consider donating to these costs.

You can help support the Free Fire Cider campaign in many ways!
~Donate to the trial costs! 
~Make your own Trademark Free Fire Cider!
~Teach a Trademark Free Fire Cider class!
~Don’t buy pirated herbal products (the brand with the pirate on the label)!
~Ask your local stores not to carry trademarked Fire Cider!

Thankfully,  many stores have opted to stop selling trademarked Fire Cider.  Stores who have continued to sell  the Shire City Brand usually state that they want their costumers to have the freedom of choice, but there’s NO choice when there’s only one brand allowed to be sold.  Thanks to Park Slope Co-op in NYC for supporting the boycott!
 

Our enduring hope is that Fire Cider and other traditional herbal recipes will be put in a category that protects them from future trademarking, which will allow everyone to continue to make and sell these traditional herbal recipes.  We are not alone!

Again, thank you endlessly for your continued support.
In Joy,

Rosemary Gladstar

Latest Update!

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Update October 2017-
We are going to trial to protect the generic herbal term fire cider from trademarks! We are still waiting for our trial date.

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Thanks for your support! Kathi, Mary, Nikki and Rosemary

Action Alert! Support Standing Rock Camp with us!

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nikki-memecall-to-action-memescreen-shot-2016-11-14-at-10-46-33-amTradition Not Trademark supports
the Standing Rock Sioux’s battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline. 

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Please join us in sending trademark-free Fire Cider to the Medic and Healer Council at the camp. The water protectors on the front lines need trademark- free Fire Cider!!! Remember, if it has a pirate on the label, it is trademarked!!!

More info on how to donate can be found here.

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Finally A Legal Update!!

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AMAZING NEWS to report on the lawsuit Shire City brought against the herbalists Mary Blue, Nicole Telkes and Katheryn Langelier!!!! On May 12, 2016, the federal court in Massachusetts dismissed five out of the ten claims that Shire City had brought against the 3 defendants. The claims that were dismissed were all based on the three defendants’ participation in the movement to cancel Shire City’s “Fire Cider” trademark registration. Shire City had claimed that the 3 defendants’ activities had caused Shire City $100,000 in damages.

unspecified 3 defendants had asked the court to dismiss these claims under the Massachusetts Anti-SLAPP statute, which prohibits lawsuits that are based upon constitutionally protected petitioning activities. The defendants submitted lots of evidence to support their motion, including the Free Fire Cider website and the Traditions Not Trademarks Facebook page. The court held a hearing in mid-April where attorneys for both Shire City and the defendants presented their arguments to the court. The three defendants are represented by Verrill Dana, LLP, a New England law firm. In the end, the court agreed with the three defendants and dismissed the five claims that were based on the defendants’ participation in the efforts to cancel Shire City’s trademark.

Although this is good news, the litigation is not over yet. Shire City has also brought claims against the three defendants for trademark infringement. The defendants did not seek dismissal of the trademark infringement claims under the Anti-SLAPP statute and so the lawsuit continues on those issues. These types of cases take a while to resolve and so it may be many months before we know what will happen to the rest of the lawsuit. Regardless, this decision was good news for Mary, Nicole and Katheryn!! Keep sending good thoughts their way over the next few months!