{"id":46626,"date":"2021-05-25T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/donor-buys-rights-to-shooters-grill-logo-places-it-for-sale\/"},"modified":"2021-05-25T18:30:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T18:30:00","slug":"donor-buys-rights-to-shooters-grill-logo-places-it-for-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/donor-buys-rights-to-shooters-grill-logo-places-it-for-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Donor buys rights to Shooters Grill logo, places it for sale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Lauren
Lauren Boebert, owner of Shooters Grill in Rifle, says a liberal political action group\u2019s attempt to buy her registered trademark for her restaurant, Shooters Grill, was fraudulent. She is seen in this photo released by her campaign with her husband, Jayson. (Courtesy of Lauren Boebert for Congress, file)<\/span>Courtesy of Lauren Boebert for Congress<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A liberal political action committee says it has registered for the trademark rights for the logo of Shooters Grill, the restaurant owned by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, and attempted to sell it as a nonfungible token, or NFT.<\/p>\n

NFTs are digital products that are sold online and represent tangible and intangible items, such as videos, photos or music. Purchasing an NFT means the buyer has verifiable ownership of the original item.<\/p>\n

In response, Boebert has sent two cease-and-desist letters to Rural Colorado United, one claiming the PAC\u2019s registration of the logo was fraudulent and demanding the PAC stop using the logo in any capacity; the other demanding the listing of the logo as an NFT be taken down.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly Shooters Grill has rights to the Shooters Grill logo,\u201d said Benjamin Stout, Boebert\u2019s press secretary, in an email to The Durango Herald<\/em>. \u201cShooters\u2019 legal counsel will be taking appropriate actions as needed to put a stop to yet another frivolous attack from what appears to be a group of far-left political hacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rural Colorado United Chairman George Autobee said he and other members of the PAC spoke with their own legal counsel, and they are not worried about the cease-and-desist letters. The PAC plans to continue its operations as usual and \u201ckeep the pressure\u201d on Boebert. The PAC said it bought the rights to the logo after Boebert failed to renew the registration for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t look like there\u2019s gonna be any problem on our side,\u201d Autobee said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re just going to go straight forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The logo was up for auction for 10 days as an NFT on Open Sea<\/a>, an internet marketplace for digital products. No one bought the NFT, but it was viewed more than 4,000 times on the website.<\/p>\n

The purpose of selling the logo was not to make any money for Rural Colorado United; rather, it was to \u201cpoke fun\u201d at the congresswoman, said Nathan Steele, a volunteer with Rural Colorado United<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd also to call attention to the fact that this is indicative of the way she does everything,\u201d Steele said.<\/p>\n

Steele is identified in Boebert\u2019s cease-and-desist letters as the person \u201cresponsible for the fraudulent registration\u201d of the logo. He said he paid for the trademark registration as an extension of Rural Colorado United using the PAC\u2019s money.<\/p>\n

William Groh, a lawyer who practices trademark law with Thomas P. Howard LLC in Louisville, Colorado, said he could not comment about the specifics of the case, but that registering to renew a logo for a trademark \u201cin bad faith\u201d or with negative intentions is illegal in Colorado and does not give an individual the rights to a trademark.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they registered it in bad faith, then any of the rights would be subject to cancellation,\u201d Groh said. \u201cThe other issue, though, that\u2019s a little bit more important here is, if somebody is claiming to have the right to sell something and they don\u2019t have the right to do it or they obtained it fraudulently and they\u2019re trying to sell it to somebody else, that raises more serious potential issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Groh said that sending cease-and-desist letters is \u201cstandard\u201d in cases of trademark infringement.<\/p>\n

Rural Colorado United Chairwoman Brianna Buentello said Boebert\u2019s failure to renew the registration for her logo is symbolic of how the congresswoman has fallen short in her work as a representative for Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe can\u2019t do things like handle our health care situation, get some money for our public schools, get us some earmarks for some transportation money \u2026 or even renew the rights to her own business,\u201d Buentello said. \u201cIt\u2019s embarrassing. I mean, she\u2019s patently unfit for this office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rural Colorado United was started in 2018 after Boebert\u2019s primary win. Thinking Boebert would be an unfit representative for Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, the organization began raising money and putting out advertisements to sway people from voting for Boebert in the general election.<\/p>\n

The PAC is run by Buentello, a former District 47 representative for the Colorado House of Representatives, as chairwoman, and Autobee, a local veteran of the U.S. Marines, as chairman. It also has a network of more than 100 volunteers throughout the district.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can\u2019t get elected to Congress without threatening somebody else, maybe you don\u2019t have anything to offer,\u201d Autobee said in a Rural Colorado United advertisement about Boebert.<\/p>\n

Buentello said Rural Colorado United seeks to highlight how Boebert is failing her district and engaging in \u201cshady business dealings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rural Colorado United has not announced that it supports any candidate as primary elections draw near, but the organization plans to turn its attention to fundraising and organizing grassroots efforts. Buentello said she hopes Rural Colorado United\u2019s efforts inspire thoughtful civic engagement in future elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really good opportunity for people to realize how tremendously impactful our federal government representation is,\u201d Buentello said.<\/p>\n

Grace George is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C.<\/em><\/p>\n