Date: June 25, 2008
To: Wild Sheep Foundation Membership and
Chapters
From: Gray N. Thornton, President & CEO and Louis
Rupp, Chairman
Re: Update on the Lawsuit
between Grand Slam Club/Ovis and Foundation for North American Wild Sheep
Association and International Sheep Hunters Association
As you all know, Grand Slam Club/Ovis (“GSC/O”) filed suit
against the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep (“FNAWS”) and
International Sheep Hunters Association (“ISHA”) in November 2006 and claimed
that FNAWS and/or ISHA’s use of certain hunting-related terminology and
membership forms was unlawful and harmful to GSC/O. The terms at issue in the litigation were
“Grand Slam®,” “Grand Slam of North American Wild Sheep®,” “Ovis World Slam®,”
“Capra World Slam®,” “3/4 Slam®,” “3/4 Grand Slam®,” “Capra Slam,” “Caprinae
Slam,” “Grand Slam of Sheep Hunt Drawings,” “3/4 Slammer,” “1/2 Grand Slam,”
“1/2 Slammer,” and “1/2 Slam.” We’ll
refer to these terms as the “Disputed Terms” going forward. In response to the lawsuit filed by GSC/O, FNAWS
and ISHA argued that the Disputed Terms and derivations of those terms had been
used by sheep hunters since approximately 1948 (and big game hunters more
generally long before that), that the Disputed Terms are widely used by sportsmen’s
groups and non-profit organizations throughout the country, and that FNAWS
and/or ISHA were using certain of the Disputed Terms in their general business
and fundraising efforts long before GSC/O came onto the scene. In short, we argued that the Disputed Terms
could not be owned by any one person or organization… particularly an
organization that was not created until the early 1990s. A jury in the Northern District of Alabama
disagreed.
The jury found that GSC/O “owned” the terms “Grand Slam®,”
“Grand Slam of North American Wild Sheep®,” “Capra World Slam®,” “Ovis World
Slam®,” “3/4 Slam®,” and “3/4 Grand Slam®” based on GSC/O’s federal trademark
registrations. The jury further found
that FNAWS and/or ISHA’s use of some of the Disputed Terms violated GSC/O’s
“ownership” rights in the trademarked terms.
The jury also found that FNAWS and ISHA’s achievement reporting forms
were too similar to GSC/O’s reporting forms and that they violated GSC/O’s
registered copyrights in its own forms.
The jury additionally found that FNAWS and ISHA’s use of some of the
Disputed Terms wrongfully interfered with GSC/O’s business operations and
relationship’s and that FNAWS and ISHA’s conduct in doing so constituted
deliberate oppression, fraud, wantonness, or malice towards GSC/O, and the jury
added punitive damages to the judgment against FNAWS and ISHA for that
reason. Finally, the jury found that the
2005 “Agreement of Goodwill” between FNAWS and GSC/O was a contract and that
FNAWS breached that contract by using some of the Disputed Terms.
*The following marks are registered
to Grand Slam Club/Ovis (GSC/O): GRAND SLAM, GRAND SLAM OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD
SHEEP, OVIS WORLD SLAM and CAPRA WORLD SLAM. GSC/O is not affiliated with WSF,
FNAWS or ISHA, GSC/O does not authenticate any awards given by WSF, FNAWS or
ISHA, and GSC/O does not endorse or sponsor goods or services offered by WSF,
FNAWS or ISHA.
FNAWS filed claims against GSC/O in response to the claims
against it. The jury found against FNAWS
on two of its claims, specifically finding that FNAWS gave up any claims for
monies owed to it by GSC/O when it executed the Agreement of Goodwill and that
GSC/O did not interfere in FNAWS’ business relationships.
The Court entered a $1.9 million dollar award against FNAWS
and ISHA. Each organization is
responsible for half of the judgment. The
Court further enjoined FNAWS, our Chapters and ISHA from using the Disputed
Terms or any other phrase using the word “slam” in connection with the advertisement,
promotion, offer of goods or services, awards, raffles, contests,
registrations, registration forms, conventions, education, and auctions (or any
similar activity) related to the field of sheep and goat hunting or
conservation. This only paraphrases the
injunction, but the sum total is that FNAWS and ISHA are currently prohibited
from using any of the Disputed Terms in its business or conservation
efforts. To the extent that there might
be any limited use of the Disputed Terms that is not barred, FNAWS and ISHA have
made the business decision to eliminate the Disputed Terms completely from our operations
so as to avoid any possibility that we might be found in violation of the
Injunction.
The Injunction is important not only to FNAWS and ISHA, but
also to each of our officers, representatives, employees, and Chapters. The Court has made it clear that it will hold
FNAWS responsible (financially and otherwise) for any violation of the
Injunction by any of the FNAWS Chapters or representatives. While our Chapters may question whether an Alabama
Court has jurisdiction over them in a case to which they were not party, as
discussed in our May 30-31 Chapter Workshop and Forum and other correspondence,
we have asked that our Chapters adhere to the terms of the Injunction for the
overall good of our entire organization.
As FNAWS becomes the Wild Sheep Foundation and the FNAWS Chapter
charters are revised and renewed, adherence to the Injunction will be
mandatory. As it is, the Court has
ordered FNAWS to revoke a Chapter’s charter in response to any violation of the
Injunction by the Chapter, and FNAWS, ISHA and the Wild Sheep Foundation will
adhere to that mandate. Each Chapter has
been provided with a copy of the Injunction, but we are available to answer any
questions that you may have. Similarly, our officers and employees are
cautioned to make sure that their actions comply with the Injunction even in
activities unrelated to these organizations.
The jury verdict did not decide all of the issues in the
case, however, and a number of those issues are still pending with the Court. FNAWS and ISHA asserted a number of defenses
in equity during the trial, and it is up to the Court still to decide on the
merits of those defenses. Equitable
considerations include the notions that GSC/O waited much too long before
objecting to FNAWS and ISHA’s use of some of the Disputed Terms, that GSC/O
engaged in activities making it inappropriate for it to now claim trademark
rights and damages, and that GSC/O abandoned any rights that it may have had in
the Disputed Terms. Additionally, the
Court has not yet ruled on FNAWS’ counterclaim seeking cancellation of GSC/O’s
trademarks on multiple grounds. It is
still our position that the most of the Disputed Terms are not subject to the
ownership of any one organization and that they should be available for all to
use as they have been historically.
Further, GSC/O and Bob Housholder gave up any rights that either may
have potentially had to any of the Disputed Terms. This is only a cursory overview, but a
favorable ruling on any of these issues could change the entire verdict, and FNAWS
and ISHA have requested a new trial on certain issues.
We are committed to moving forward, and we eagerly await the
Court’s decision on our defenses and FNAWS’ counterclaim. The jury’s verdict may remain intact, but we
have sound arguments as to why it should be altered and, at a minimum, why the
damages award should be dramatically reduced.
It is also possible that there will be a new trial of some or all of
GSC/O’s claims in the litigation. The
time frame that we are looking at for final resolution is currently unknown.
The parties’ have been discussing settlement and will pursue the same if there
is a workable middle ground. If possible,
we would all like to put this dispute behind us.
A recent development in the case has been the recusal of the
trial judge, the Honorable Virginia Hopkins.
For our purposes, this means that Judge Hopkins will no longer be
involved in this case and will not be the Judge who decides the remaining
issues, including FNAWS and ISHA’s equitable defenses and FNAWS’ counterclaim or
the pending post-trial motions. The case
was briefly assigned to another trial judge before being placed with the Chief
Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of
Alabama. As a practical manner, this
means that it may take somewhat longer to get a ruling on the remaining claims
as the new judge will need to review extensive transcripts and pleadings or
retry portions of the case before ruling on the remaining issues.
On a very positive note, we are entering new and exciting
times for our organization. With the
development of the Wild Sheep Foundation and renewed focus on our mission, convention,
membership, chapters and programs, we will become a more united and even more
successful organization. We will still
be able to give awards and recognize our members for their many sheep and
mountain hunting accomplishments. We
will still have raffles and drawings at our conventions. We
will use terminology such as “1 more for four,” “two more to go,” “1/4 curl,”
“1/2 curl,” “3/4 curl,” “full curl,” and “FNAWS” to describe our achievements
and some of our marketing efforts. We will be able to write about our hunts and
publish our stories. It is not the
terminology, but the efforts and experience in the field and mountains themselves
that mark our highest and most memorable hunting accomplishments. Terms don’t define the essence of hunting -
our interaction with wildlife and wild places does.
When all of the litigation is over and the dust settles, we
may be able to use some of the Disputed Terms again, but frankly that is not
where our focus is or should be. Our
purpose is “Putting and Keeping Sheep on
the Mountain” and for more than 31 years we have been doing just that. Regardless
of the outcome and the Court’s final decision, rest assured that your Wild
Sheep Foundation will keep to our mission and keep our conservation purpose and
successes paramount!
Thank you.
We will continue to keep our valued members informed on this tragic but important
issue to the Foundation and hunting/conservation community
Watch for further
updates and Wild Sheep Foundation news on
www.wildsheepfoundation.org
Wild Sheep Foundation International
Headquarters
720 Allen Avenue
Cody, Wyoming 82414
Phone: 307-527-6261 Fax: 307-527-7117
info@wildsheepfoundation.org
