Chamber suing chamber
Long-time commerce group files federal trademark suit against Christian counterpart
Sat. July 05 - 2008
Peter Schnitzler -  pschnitzler@ibj.com
IBJ staff

The “voice of Indiana business” is attempting to silence its faith-based counterpart. On June 15, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 4,800 businesses around the state, filed a federal lawsuit against the upstart Indiana Christian Chamber of Commerce. The complaint alleges trademark infringement, unfair competition, counterfeiting and forgery.

“We’re just trying to prevent people from being confused,” said Ice Miller LLP partner Jay Taylor, who represents the Indiana Chamber of Commerce in the lawsuit.

“We certainly want the name to be changed. We’ve been asking for them to do that from the very beginning. Quite frankly, we’ve never received any response, and had no alternative but to file suit.”

The Indiana Chamber, formed in 1922, is one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in the state. The not-for-profit, which has more than $7 million in revenue and 53 employees, regularly attempts to sway legislators on issues like environmental regulations, economic development and taxes.

The Christian Chamber debuted last September. It bills itself as an organization that provides business leaders biblical insight on workplace issues and market strategies found in Scripture.

Information on the Christian Chamber’s membership and finances was not available. The organization would not comment beyond issuing a statement saying it would consult with its legal counsel before determining its next step.

“We feel we obtained our name appropriately, which is really no different from the 30-some chambers in the greater Indianapolis area,” the statement said.

“We do not expect this suit to have any effect on the growth and support we’ve enjoyed since our launch. We are truely [sic] excited about what God has provided and look forward to what He has planned for the future.”

Indiana Chamber representatives say they don’t have the same beef with the many other central Indiana chamber organizations—groups ranging from the Indiana State Hispanic Chamber to the Indy Rainbow Chamber—because those names are not as similar.

The key issue for the court to decide is whether “Indiana Chamber of Commerce” applies exclusively to the statewide chamber, or simply describes a service many organizations provide, said Donald Knebel, an Indianapolis attorney not involved in the squabble.

“In any trademark case, the issue will be whether the plaintiff can prove the mark uniquely identifies it,” said Knebel, who chairs Barnes & Thornburgh LLP’s Intellectual Property Department.

He said a similar issue was at the crux of a 2004 lawsuit that North Carolina-based grocer The Fresh Market filed against locally based Marsh Supermarkets Inc. over its use of the “Arthur’s Fresh Market” moniker. Marsh won that case.

The Indiana Chamber and Christian Chamber have similarities beyond their names. Both have active lobbying efforts, sometimes taking stands on the same issues.

The Christian Chamber’s executive director, Sue Swayze, formerly led lobbying for the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.

On the Christian Chamber’s Web site, she has posted interviews with prominent figures, including State Rep. Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis; State Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington; and Indianapolis Colts Chaplain Ken Johnson.

The Christian Chamber calls its lobbying the “Gatekeepers Action Network: a Christian voice in Indiana politics.” Both chambers provide free legal counsel to their members. Recent Christian Chamber events listed on its Web site include networking breakfasts and a “Faith on the Green” golf outing.

Documents filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis show that the Indiana Chamber has quietly attempted to persuade the Christian Chamber to change its name since last fall.

In an October letter, Ice Miller’s Taylor warned Swayze about infringing on the trademarked Indiana Chamber of Commerce name and Web site. He repeated the warning in another letter in April.

“Your failure to respond to our earlier letter suggests that you have no intention of complying with our requests and resolving this matter in an amicable fashion,” Taylor wrote. “Several alternatives to the name ‘Indiana Christian Chamber of Commerce’ were offered to you as being acceptable to ICC, to which you have not responded.”

Taylor went on to demand that the Christian Chamber quit using its name and transfer its Web domain, www.indianachristianchamber.com, to the Indiana Chamber. His lawsuit makes the same request and also seeks legal costs and unspecified damages for trademark infringement.

The Indiana Chamber is basing its Web site arguments on the Federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, as well as Indiana law. It also argues that the Christian Chamber, by infringing on its protected trademark, committed criminal conversion. The counterfeiting and forgery allegations stem from the Christian Chamber’s attempts to publicize itself.

The Indiana Chamber became concerned after state legislators expressed confusion about overlap and assumed an affiliation between the two groups, said George Raymond, the Indiana Chamber vice president of human resources, labor relations and civil justice.

“We think the name can create and does create confusion,” Raymond said. “It’d be like the Indianapolis Christian Business Journal. Would that cause you guys any problems?”

Roland Dorson, the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce’s president, calls himself an impartial observer of the dispute.

“The world is a big place. There are, depending on the latest count, upwards of 5,000 chambers in the country, representing a wide variety of interests,” he said. “It seems the market can accommodate thousands of chambers.”

At the same time, Dorson was sympathetic to the Indiana Chamber’s concerns about erosion of its long-trademarked brand. He called it “a shame” that court action is necessary to settle the matter.

But Raymond said the Christian Chamber’s failure to respond to the Indiana Chamber’s concerns left it no choice.

“We didn’t do this lightly, and we do it reluctantly. But our attempts to settle this without resorting to this have born no fruit,” Raymond said. “We finally reached a point where we didn’t think we had an alternative to protect the name and prevent confusion.”  •
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COMMENTS:      ( Posts 1 - 10 ) out of 12alignView All Comments

Ben McCann
Franklin , IN - US
 Posted on Tue, Jul 08 2008 # 1    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

with all due respect, you would have to be an idiot to confuse the two
If our "state legislators" are confused about the "two" different chambers then they are ignorant of both. you need not look very far to realize that they are completely seperate. The only ones that win in this are the Lawyers. it would take about 10 seconds of research to tell them apart. and as far as "assuming" that they were connected, I promise you more people get confused about the relationship of the Indianapolis Chamber and The Indiana Chamber than anything else... where are the lawsuits there? and By the Way.. you know what happens when you "ASSUME" things. Well written article, I hope the Indiana Chamber Drops its silly suit... what a waste of time and resources, it just makes them look petty & juevenile.

Chamber Member
Greenville , SC - US
 Posted on Tue, Jul 08 2008 # 2    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

Re: thicker than water
As I suggested in my earlier comment, it is necessary to review more than just one document to thoroughly and accurately understand the world view and mindset of our nation's founding fathers. So, please review the historical documents and writings...which are the original words and therefore are totally unbiased.

Sassafras
Washington , DC - US
 Posted on Tue, Jul 08 2008 # 3    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

thicker than water
Chamber Member, your WallBuilders site is nothing more than a right-wing, Christian lobbying group--about as impartial as People for the American Way (a lobbying group that connects America's founding to liberal principles). Neither organization has any viability whatsoever as supporting evidence for an argument, because they both pull only the evidence from historical context that is relevant to their agendas. Truth is, the Constitution has no more overt reference to secular foundations than it does to Christian foundations (neither "Christian" nor "secular" are explicitly mentioned in the document) which is why the battle for interpretation of "church and State" will rage on ad inifinitum. My guess is there's far more going on here than a naming rights dispute between the two Chambers of Commerce, but they should capture two largely different demographic groups when their divergent positions on certain divisive issues come to light.

Chamber Member
Carmel , IN - US
 Posted on Mon, Jul 07 2008 # 4    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

Re: WRONG
Visit www.wallbuilders.com Here you will find and be able to review some of our country's original documents, and you will find that indeed the we were founded on Judeo Christian principles and that the original intent of our founding fathers was that Jesus Christ remain central to our course as a nation and a people.

Multiple Chamber Member
Indianapolis , IN - US
 Posted on Mon, Jul 07 2008 # 5    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

Chambers are not part of government
All Chambers are separate from the government. There is widespread misconception that chambers are an arm of the government. They are not an arm of the government and they are not funded by the government. They are self supporting membership organizations, with a bias towards the desires and goals of their members. It is possible although not necessary that the chambers mentioned could have divergent views on issues. If so, they could work to lobby or promote the positions of their members. On other issues, they could agree and support each other. Many chambers are active politically to promote the interests of their members, the same as many organizations. So, having a "Christian" chamber is no more appropriate or inappropriate than a Hispanic or Black chamber, both of which exist or have existed in Indianapolis and have performed very important and appropriate functions for their memberships. And, by the way, religion is much less in our politics than say Korea, Iraq, or a very long list of other countries in the world.

Jeff Bowe
Indianapolis , IN - US
 Posted on Mon, Jul 07 2008 # 6    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

Re: WRONG
Unfortunately, as the other poster noted, you are incorrect in stating that our country was not founded on Christian beliefs (not Christian as in Church of Christ or any other singular denomination, but on faith based on Christian principles.) This is an indisputable fact. Additionally, they were not actually all that tolerant as the denominations that dominated in that day were fairly conservative. Their "freedom of religion" did not include the world religions (Hinduism, Islam, etc), and one only has to look at the founding of all early schools and universities to see how important their Christian basis was. Going back prior to colonial times, to the first "settlers" we also see the desire to "convert" the Indians from their long standing religious beliefs to the Christian faith--not exactly a model of tolerance and diversity. Also interesting that you choose to be anonymous.

Wondering
Indianapolis , IN - US
 Posted on Mon, Jul 07 2008 # 7    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

Re: WRONG
I totally on Religion should stay out of politics. Founding Fathers (most if not all) had a religion based off Christianity but were not from one faith or another... but a collection of faiths. Link below shows a list of Founding Father's religions. They (Founding Fathers) Left the constitution to state that Religion and Politics shall not inner twine because many of them (if not all) were persecuted for not believing what the "King" or Political Figure believed. Now on that note, they made sure that no one could be persecuted for their beliefs by making the law state that no political department shall have athority over local, state, or national Religion (like state bird, state tree, etc.). Having a Religious affilation with a political office like the Indiana Christian Chamber is in direct violation of the national law put into place 228 years ago. Granted, this religious connection is a little fuzzy, but we should not allow this to go on unless the chamber in question can clearly point out Non-Discrimination to other religions. http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.html

Anon
Indianapolis , IN - US
 Posted on Mon, Jul 07 2008 # 8    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

WRONG
This country was not founded on "core Christian concepts"! It was founded on the diversity of all religions, NOT just christian concepts. Whatever preacher or church told you this country was founded on christian beliefs was dead WRONG. Religion has NOTHING to do with this issue and shouldn't have ANYTHING to do with government... PERIOD! (P.S. the "Founding Fathers" were not Christian)

Bob Haddad
Greenville , SC - US
 Posted on Mon, Jul 07 2008 # 9    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

Indiana Chamber fears competition, throws weight around
How about this as a solution...have the Indiana Chamber become the Indiana Non-Christian Chamber. It seems that the Indiana Chamber went out of their way in this report to stress how they had gone to great lengths in attempting to work this out with the Indiana Christian Chamber, but I believe what they really meant is that they do not want the competition and have tried everything short of leagal action to get them to do what they want to see happen. I believe the Indiana Chrsitian Chamber should be allowed to contiue to operate with the name they have chosen and I applaud and affirm their efforts to organize and operate as named!

Mark Jurgens
Indianapolis , IN - US
 Posted on Mon, Jul 07 2008 # 10    |    Report as bad post.    |    Reply    

Indiana Chamber & Indiana Christian Chamber - look & sound different to me
The "Indiana Chamber" & "Indiana Christian Chamber" - look & sound different to me. If it were the "Indiana Black Chamber" would their be a problem?
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