The Netherlands based company route66licensing.com, an affiliate of Tempting Brands of the Netherlands, is seeking to prohibit U.S. based entrepreneurs from marketing Route 66 themed products in Europe and China. They have asserted trademark infringement on a popular web based marketing site called zazzle.com. They are asserting ownership of the Route 66 shield, the words Route 66, and in some cases the phrase "The Mother Road." This has resulted in the removal of a number of products from the web site zazzle placed on the site by U.S. marketers.
The Route 66 shield image, the phrase Route 66, and the words Mother Road are irrefutably in the public domain as documented on this web site. The shield image and the highway designation have been in the public domain since 1927 and 1926 respectively.
However, Tempting Brands has been successful in registering three trademarks in the United States related to Route 66. Tempting Brands also claims trademarks in foreign countries.
For more info on these trademark registrations in the U.S. and foreign countries by Tempting Brands, see our web site page here.
Our coalition has been organized to confront route66licensing.com and Tempting Brands and to enjoin them from asserting infringement claims for products based on the public domain images and words associated with Route 66. We are organizing a legal team to litigate on behalf of the coalition.
