Dear Sir or Madam:
We represent the Sorority with respect to her intellectual property matters. AKA, the U.S. first and oldest collegiate Greek lettered Sorority, is a highly-respected, internationally renowned, private non-profit public service sorority. AKA was founded in 1908 and has a membership of over 200,000 African-American, college-educated women, with hundreds of chapters worldwide.
AKA owns numerous trademarks and service marks that are registered with the U.S. Trademark Office for various word and design marks incorporating her Alpha Kappa Alpha brand (“Sorority Marks”). More specifically, a non-exhaustive list of marks that AKA owns include: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (U.S. Reg. No. 3,153,908 ); AKA (U.S. Reg. No. 3,298,147; 3,733,169; 3,694,726; 3,601,432; 3,601,425; 3,601,347; 3,495,918; and 2,094,598; ); Ivy Leaf (U.S. Reg. No. 3,148,749), her shield (U.S. Reg. No. 1,442,550); the combination mark of AKA in the colors pink & green (U.S. Reg. No. 3,694,726) and her founding year 1908 (U.S. Reg. No. 3,653, 283). In addition, the Sorority has federal protection under the Lanham Act for the following marks: Alpha Kappa Alpha, AKA1908, 20 Pearls and others. Please note, we recently enforced our rights against a major U.S. company that was using the combination of our founding year and colors on their goods without our permission. We were also successful in getting a Washington DC nightclub to change its name wherein it deleted the mark “AKA”.
AKA diligently protects her goodwill and reputation associated with her marks. Merchandise, communications and videos bearing the Sorority Marks may be distributed, published and shown through the Sorority’s authorized licensees only. In addition, the Sorority’s policies strictly prohibit its licensees from displaying, showing or performing videos or any other medium over the internet that contain her intellectual property.
It has recently come to our attention that your company is posting its ritual which is a Sorority protected trade secret. The posting can be found using URL
https://www.conspirazzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ritual-books/alpha-kappa-alpha-ritual-circa-1977.pdf.
More specifically, the posting consists of a Sorority ritual circa 1977. Please be advised that your company’s unauthorized posting and publication of the Sorority’s Ritual constitutes, among other things, trademark infringement, unfair competition, trademark dilution, trade secret violation and other causes of action under state and federal law. In particular, your posting is likely to cause irreparable harm by disclosing some of the Sorority’s most cherished secrets, which are and should always be, known only to its membership.
We therefore demand that Conspirazzi immediately (1) cease and desist from any further posting or publication of the Sorority’s Ritual and that all references to it be immediately removed from your website and from all other mediums that you enable or allow another to view, post and/or publish such works. We respectfully request your confirmation that you have ceased all further use of the Sorority Marks together with the complete accounting demanded above by no later than September 2, 2011.
We trust that you will govern yourself accordingly. This letter does not constitute an exhaustive statement of the Sorority’s position, nor does it constitute a waiver or limitation of any of the Sorority’s legal or equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved. In addition, the Sorority has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of above was not authorized by it, its agent, or the law.
Further, the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I am authorized to act on behalf of the Sorority.
Sincerely,
/John/
John S. Kendall, Esq.
cc: Ms. Carolyn House Stewart, Esq., President
Ms. Deborah Dangerfield, Executive Director
