The Market Square District Association appears to be trying to head off the kind of controversy that's recently sprung up around First Fridays in Knoxville by applying for a trademark on the phrase "First Night."
First Night Knoxville is the MSDA's family-friendly New Year's Eve celebration, held in several venues across downtown on Dec. 31 since 2007. All references to First Night on the First Night Knoxville website and in the group's press materials for the event are marked with the federal registration trademark symbol, ®.
The MSDA has threatened legal action against the District retail association in Bearden over its use of First Friday in its monthly special events, even though First Friday gallery crawls and art openings have been happening in other cities for decades. MSDA first started sponsoring its First Fridays in 2003.
First Night, too, is a long-standing civic event that started in Boston more than 30 years before MSDA ever adopted the idea.
UPDATE: MSDA representative John Craig clarified MSDA's use of the circle R: "All of our First Night materials are marked with the Registered Trademark symbol because the name 'First Night' is owned by First Night USA, which licenses the name to use and about 80 other cities around the country, and a couple outside the U.S."
First Night Knoxville is the MSDA's family-friendly New Year's Eve celebration, held in several venues across downtown on Dec. 31 since 2007. All references to First Night on the First Night Knoxville website and in the group's press materials for the event are marked with the federal registration trademark symbol, ®.
The MSDA has threatened legal action against the District retail association in Bearden over its use of First Friday in its monthly special events, even though First Friday gallery crawls and art openings have been happening in other cities for decades. MSDA first started sponsoring its First Fridays in 2003.
First Night, too, is a long-standing civic event that started in Boston more than 30 years before MSDA ever adopted the idea.
UPDATE: MSDA representative John Craig clarified MSDA's use of the circle R: "All of our First Night materials are marked with the Registered Trademark symbol because the name 'First Night' is owned by First Night USA, which licenses the name to use and about 80 other cities around the country, and a couple outside the U.S."
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