Manuel P. Asensio and St. Johns Republican Presidential Executive Committee win landmark trademark decision to use the Republican National Committee's federal trademarks to criticize and comment to the GOP's policy towards federal judicial corruption.
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FL / ACCESSWIRE / October 30, 2024 / In a case filed at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) titled, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) versus Manuel P. Asensio (Asensio), Case Number D2024-3099, against Asensio's and St. Johns Republican Presidential Executive Committee's (St. Johns GOP) use of the Republican National Committee's (RNC) Federal Trademarks registered at U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) under Registration Numbers 2110224 and 1908397, collectively referred to as "Official GOP and Elephant Logos," the WIPO has affirmed Asensio's and St. Johns GOP's right to use the Official GOP and Elephant Logos in the United States and within St. Johns County, Florida. The WIPO's final order was entered on October 8, 2024 and published on October 19, 2024.
In the order the WIPO acknowledged the St. Johns GOP's stated dedication "to the improving the GOP's presidential policies towards the administration of the US Judicial Conduct Act and the US Rules Enabling Act, and the regulation of organized federal judicial corruption by the US Judicial Conference." The WIPO found that Asensio and St. Johns GOP had "rights and legitimate interests" in the Official GOP and Elephant Logos notwithstanding the undisputed facts that the RPOF "has received permission from the RNC to use the GOP mark in Florida and has registered the GOP name and mark in Florida with the relevant agency" while Asensio "has no permission from the RNC and has not registered the GOP mark with the relevant agency." The WIPO found that Asensio and St. Johns GOP has sufficiently shown a legitimate interest in the RNC's policies towards federal judicial corruption.
In making its determination, the WIPO found that Asensio and St. Johns GOP had "raised concerns and views regarding the Republican Party, the federal government and institutional corruption." Specifically, the WIPO reviewed Asensio's criticism of and commentary on the RNC's policies and its use of the Official GOP and Elephant Logos to convince other Republicans [ . . . ] to join his fight against claimed federal judicial corruption." Further, the WIPO found that Asensio "had been critical of certain policies of the Republican Party for sometime."
Upon a review of the evidence, the WIPO found that Asensio's criticism and commentary concerns related to "(i) the Republican Party's federal judiciary policy and (ii) judicial corruption" were bona fide and not intended "to take advantage of the [Official GOP and Elephant Logos] in a bad faith or abusive way." The WIPO concluded that Asensio has a "genuine and non-commercial" interest in his use of Official GOP and Elephant Logos and dismissed the RNC's and RPOF's case. Finally, the WIPO did not decide on Asensio's claim that the RNC was using Official GOP and Elephant Logos against St. Johns GOP in "bad faith."
In explaining its decision not to rule on Asensio's "bad faith" claim, the WIPO concluded, that "given the Parties' long-standing dispute and the fact that many issues raised by the Parties are beyond the scope of [the WIPO], the Panel believes that this dispute belongs in another forum where discovery and cross-examination would be available to more fully assess the merits of the Parties respective contentions and where the Parties could raise all of their many claims and contentions."
Manuel P. Asensio, the co-founder and chairman of the St. Johns Republican Presidential Executive Committee, the nation's leading authority on the chief justice of the US Supreme Court's administration of the US Judicial Conduct Act and the US Rules Enabling Act, stated, "Judges are viewed as untouchable figures, with an aura of impartiality and authority that is beyond scrutiny. The ideas that judiciary is self-governing and the notion of judicial immunity have created a perception that judges operate above the political fray. St. Johns GOP understands that this makes media outlets cautious when reporting on federal judicial corruption. However, the RNC should not shy away from dealing with federal judicial corruption just because of their established policies. In so doing, the RNC is harming every American and risking a loss of support and credibility among Republicans."
Robert A. Harris, the co-founder and chairman of the St. Johns GOP, added, "We welcome the conclusion of this unfortunate misunderstanding with Governor Ron DeSantis and other leaders in the Republican Party of Florida and hope they will now join us convincing the members of Republican National Committee's Executive Committee to join St. Johns GOP's fight against corruption in the US Judicial Conference. There is still sufficient time to do so before the election."
For further information, please email St. Johns GOP at info@stjohnsgop.org or call us at (561) 946-1000. To leave comments please (863) 946-7331 - (863) WINRED1. Visit www.stjohnsgop.org and join our email list.
SOURCE: St. Johns Republican Presidential Executive Committee
View the original press release on accesswire.com
