AGENDA #4c

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Response to Petition regarding Use of Town Seal

 

DATE:             March 24, 2003

 

 

The attached resolution would authorize the Manager to negotiate and enter into a contract to allow use of the Town Seal in a private publication related to the history of Orange County.

 

BACKGROUND

 

The Council at its February 24, 2003 meeting received a petition from Mrs. Elizabeth Ryan asking for permission to use a reproduction of the Chapel Hill Town Seal in a section on Chapel Hill in a book she is writing.  The book is being written to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Orange County’s founding, and will have sections on each of the three major towns in the county, as well as the University.  Mrs. Ryan’s petition, as well as an outline of the book’s contents and a facsimile of the title page on which the Town Seal would appear, is included as Attachment 1.

 

Mrs. Ryan has requested the use of the Town Seal to be used on the title page of a chapter of a book she is currently writing that will contain a section on Chapel Hill.  The Town Seal is a registered trademark of the Town, renewed every five years as required by the State.  The Town has the ability to assign the use of the Town Seal to an individual or other entity.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The Town Seal currently in use was adopted in March 1989, and subsequently registered with the NC Secretary of State’s Office as an official trademark of the Town of Chapel Hill in 1993, at the same time the Town registered trademarks to be used during the Town’s Bicentennial celebrations.

 

The Town is required to renew the trademark for the Town Seal every five years.  It was renewed in 1998 with an expiration date of September 15, 2003.  A renewal application was filed on March 10, 2003.

 

Since its registration in 1993, the Town has not allowed the Town Seal to be used for any purpose other than official Town business.  Its primary use is by the Town Clerk for official documents, such as contracts or certification of actions by the Town Council.  The Town has entered into agreements allowing the use of the Town Flag and Bicentennial logo by private persons.

 

According to Fleming Bell, Professor of Public Law and Government with the UNC School of Government, a municipality’s seal meets the definition of a public record, since it is documentary material made or received in the course of transacting public business, and is freely available for copying by anyone for any reason.  However, Professor Bell notes that since the Town has registered the Town Seal as a trademark, then federal copyright or trademark law would take precedence over State public records law and allow the Town to restrict the copying and use of the Town Seal.

 

The NC Secretary of State’s Office, in a document titled “Registering a Trademark or Service Mark in North Carolina”, states that the right to use a trademark or service mark can be transferred to another person or business entity, called an “assignment”, but it must be done in writing.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution, authorizing the Manager to negotiate and enter into an Agreement granting permission for Mrs. Ryan to make use of a copy of the Town Seal, only for the purpose of appearing in section of her book commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of Orange County, subject to reasonable terms and conditions in order to preserve the Town’s Service Mark rights in said Seal and to make clear that the document to which the seal is attached is not an official document of the Town or officially approved by the Town Government.

 

ATTACHMENT

 

1.                  February 24, 2003 Petition from Mrs. Elizabeth Ryan (p. 4).

 

A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE TOWN MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH MRS. ELIZABETH RYAN TO USE A COPY OF THE TOWN SEAL OF THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL (2003-03-24/R-5)

 

WHEREAS, Mrs. Elizabeth Ryan petitioned the Town Council on February 24, 2003, for use of the Town Seal, to appear on a title page of a section of a book she is currently writing to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of Orange County; and

 

WHEREAS, the Town Seal, a trademark of the Town of Chapel Hill registered with the State of North Carolina, may be assigned to a person or entity by the Town by written permission;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council hereby authorizes the Town Manager to negotiate and enter into an agreement with Mrs. Elizabeth Ryan to allow her to use a copy of the Town Seal, only for the purpose of appearing in a section of a book she is currently writing to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of Orange County subject to such reasonable terms and conditions as the Manager and Attorney deem appropriate to preserve the Town’s Service Mark rights to said Seal.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Mrs. Elizabeth Ryan may not use the Town Seal for any other purpose, and may not assign its use to another party.

 

This the 24th day of March, 2003.