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December 30, 2004
To Oregonians:
On behalf of the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Brand Oregon program, we want to inform you that the state of Oregon has decided to cease using the term “Oregon Wild” in conjunction with its Brand Oregon campaign to promote Oregon seafood. This decision is effective immediately and we are asking all Oregonians who use the "Oregon Wild" term as part of the Brand Oregon seafood campaign to cease use of that term immediately as well. The reasons for the state's decision are summarized below.
The state rolled out its Brand Oregon campaign for Oregon commodities earlier this year with three brand logos, "Oregon Wild," "Oregon Born" and "Oregon Raised." The program was developed to promote the richness and quality of Oregon agricultural products and seafood. The state believed that promoting Oregon products with short phrases indicating their principal characteristics would capture the essence of those products and promote the bounty of Oregon. Many retailers, restaurants and others joined in this effort and were part of the reason why Oregon products have received the recognition they deserve through the Brand Oregon program.
In May of 2004, however, the Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC) sent the state a letter, alleging that the state's use of the term "Oregon Wild" in conjunction with the Brand Oregon seafood promotion program violated ONRC's rights to use the same term for its advocacy programs. Specifically, ONRC claimed that it owns the right to use the term "Oregon Wild" for environmental advocacy and education programs in the area of forest conservation as well as fundraising activities for those programs. ONRC further claimed the state's use of "Oregon Wild" for seafood promotion infringes on ONRC's use of the term for its purposes. ONRC threatened legal action if the state did not stop using the "Oregon Wild" term to promote Oregon seafood caught in Oregon waters.
After reviewing ONRC's claims, the state believed there was no conflict between the use of "Oregon Wild" for seafood promotion as part of Brand Oregon and ONRC's use of "Oregon Wild" for its forest conservation programs. The state has no objection to ONRC's use of "Oregon Wild" for environmental advocacy and fundraising purposes. Therefore, the state believed both uses could peacefully coexist without interfering with each other. Representatives of the state communicated this view to ONRC and for months the state has been involved in discussions with ONRC in an attempt to settle this dispute. After much hard work, it is now clear the parties remain far apart and obtaining a mutually agreeable settlement, allowing both parties to continue using the "Oregon Wild" term, is not likely at this time.
The state believes that devoting its resources to building on the successful launch of its Brand Oregon campaign is better for Oregon than using those resources to engage in a continuing legal battle with ONRC. Therefore, in order to avoid further legal risk to the state and to the many Oregonians who have joined to support the Brand Oregon campaign and the "Oregon Wild" brand, the state has now decided to end its use of the term "Oregon Wild" as part of the Brand Oregon campaign, and we are asking you to do the same. Specifically, we urge the immediate disposal of all materials, e.g., banners, stickers, recipe cards, that use the Brand Oregon logo "Oregon Wild,""Oregon Wild Salmon," "Oregon Wild Pink Shrimp,""Oregon Wild Albacore Tuna," "Oregon Wild Dungeness Crab" and "Oregon Wild Sole." Please understand the state is not suggesting that retailers stop using either the word "Oregon" or the word "Wild" in connection with seafood. To the extent those terms accurately describe your products or are required by state or Federal labeling laws, they should be able to continue using them for those purposes.
The state is working on a new logo to promote Oregon seafood and we will unveil the new campaign as soon as it is developed. In the meantime, we hope you will do what you can to continue to market the wonderful Oregon seafood caught in Oregon waters.
Since the state was unable to reach an acceptable settlement agreement with ONRC, we do not know whether ONRC will be satisfied with the state's actions in discontinuing use of "Oregon Wild" or will pursue this matter further. It is possible ONRC will continue to make demands about the use of the "Oregon Wild" term as applied to seafood, and ONRC may even send cease and desist letters to businesses using the term. Because of this concern, the best course of action is to dispose of the Brand Oregon "Oregon Wild" materials you have and carefully consider your use of those words to describe your Oregon seafood in the future. If you need assistance in disposing of "Oregon Wild" materials, contact Kris Anderson, Commodity Commission Program Manager, at 503-872-6600. Please direct your questions about Brand Oregon to Julie Curtis, Brand Oregon Deputy Director, at 503-986-0050. Please direct your questions about the dispute with ONRC to Nick Furman, Administrator, Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, at 541-267-5810.
The state appreciates all partners' participation in our successful Brand Oregon campaign and the "Oregon Wild" branding effort. You can learn more about all aspects of our Brand Oregon campaign at www.oregon.gov/BRANDOREGON. We are eager to show you our new seafood logo when development is complete and we look forward to working with all our seafood marketing partners again in the future.
Sincerely,
Brand Oregon
Oregon Department of Agriculture
Seafood Oregon
Oregon Economic and Community Development Department
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