A controversy brewing over whether a local business can use the name “Hollister” on its clothing is much bigger than one person or merchant taking on a national retailer that sells the popular teenage clothing. This threat over trademark infringement allegations coming from Abercrombie & Fitch Trading Co. has potential to highly restrict that and other local businesses, as well as organizations and any other group wanting to use the hometown name on their brands.
While downtown leaders have begun to stew in opposition of the far-reaching claim, the city must get involved to protect local rights to use the word “Hollister” on merchandise – if local stores, organizations or public agencies so please.
This is, after all, the only real Hollister, California on the planet.
That, however, isn’t the perception of many others throughout the country, especially teens who adorn the clothing company’s fashions. And the Ohio-based Abercrombie & Fitch would certainly like to keep it that way.
The company recently sent a letter to Stacey Crummett, who owns the Hollister-based denim company Rag City Blues, after she had trademarked “Rag City Blues Hollister” to reflect a change in the business’ home from Los Angeles to San Benito County.
The letter from Abercrombie & Fitch attorneys contended the use of “Hollister” violated its pre-existing trademark on the word when it’s associated with jeans, Crummett said this week. The intellectual property law firm representing the mega-million-dollar company declined to comment when reached Wednesday.
For years it has been a running joke around here that Hollister Co. – projecting a hip, laid-back, beach-adoring (Ohio-based) California image – has nothing to do with the actual town, especially considering our close but not immediate proximity to the ocean. But now it has gone from jestful to annoying to downright insulting.
Abercrombie & Fitch may own the trademark to “Hollister California SoCal,” “Hollister California Fade” and “Hollister California Daybreak.” But it surely doesn’t have sole rights to the city’s name for use by its people, organizations and businesses.
Nor should it. Our bullying, corporate likeness to the east seems to have forgotten: Hollister (the actual city) was Hollister a century and change before Abercrombie & Fitch borrowed the town name and threw artificial sand over its roots.
The company undoubtedly figured Crummett or other locals using the city’s name would roll over to its litigious threats. They shouldn’t. And we trust, considering the level of hometown pride here, they won’t.
Downtown leaders have petitioned involvement from the city attorney, who was out of the office Wednesday and unavailable for comment. City leaders should get involved and protect locals’ rights to their town’s name. Because it’s our city and our image, and we claimed it first.
