Coffee Shop's T-Shirts Upset Mormon Church (Angel Is Registered Trademark)

[matcom]

<snip>

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah -- T-shirts of a Mormon angel with coffee flowing into his trumpet are selling well at a Utah coffee shop. But church leaders aren't happy about it.

The shirts have upset the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The angel, Moroni, is a revered figure. Mormons believe he appeared to church founder Joseph Smith. Besides that, LDS members are discouraged from even drinking coffee.

Just Add Coffee co-owner Ed Beazer said, "They've been the best-selling T-shirts we've ever done." He said, "It was meant to be fun."

The church has informed Beazer that the angel's image is a registered trademark.

Beazer said, "If they provide proof, we're going to comply."

http://www.wftv.com/foodnews/11362726/detail.html

[Pierre.Suave]

1. I am not happy about the church and its actions

does that mean I can have my lawyer send them a cease and desist order...

[crispini]

2. Shit. They should sign up to sell these over the internet.

They'd make a mint. I want one!

[Deep13]

3. "The angel, Moroni, is a revered figure,..."

Moroni ?!?!

[KamaAina]

7. Yes. One must be extra careful about typos

when typing 'Moroni', or for that matter, 'Mormon'. This is especially true with respect to the Mitt Romney campaign, lest people get the idea he's as dumb as the man he wishes to succeed.

[deucemagnet]

4. A Mormon fatwa?

"Unauthorized use of our Holy Symbols&trade are an affront to our people!"

[Jimbo S]

5. That's it! I sense a Mormon jihad!

[GoneOffShore]

8. Hmmmm!

I wonder if there's a Mormon Jihad name generator like the Unitiarian Jihad Name Generator.

Of course we could all make up our own Mormon Jihad names.

I'm opting for

Deacon Polygmous Land Developer.

[astral]

6. What, like they got a patent on

any image of any angel anywhere?

I doubt it! But can they string you along in court so you can't afford to speak up for yourself? Probably!

[Rob H.]

9. Here's a small pic of the shirt

According to this article, Just Add Coffee started selling the image on greeting cards about a year ago and put them on t-shirts just before Christmas. They'll keep selling them until they're gone and the coffee shop's lawyers have also requested proof that the LDS church owns the trademark. (Smart move, imo.)