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Seventh Day Adventist Church Scores Partial Trademark Win

By Howard M. Friedman

General Conference Corporation of Seventh Day Adventists v. McGill, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45526 (WD TN, June 11, 2008) is a trademark infringement and unfair competition lawsuit brought by the Seventh Day Adventist Church against a break away pastor of a 3-member church he currently calls "A Creation Seventh Day & Adventist Church". The court held that the trademark "Seventh Day Adventist" is not generic and thus is protectable and that defendant illegally used the mark without permission. The court found however that that there is a material issue of fact as to whether the registered mark "Adventist" is generic and that plaintiffs had not proven that "SDA" is a valid trademark.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on June 13, 2008 (boomark / email).