NAR is using realtor, a generic word, as its trademark. I filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeals Board July 27, 1998, to cancel NAR's trademarks "realtor" and "realtors." Final hearing before the TTAB is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2002, at 10:15 in San Francisco. The ground for my cancellation petitions is that the word realtor is generic, as understood by buyers and sellers in the real estate marketplace. Under the U.S. trademark law -- the Lanham Act -- no one is permitted to obtain or retain a trademark that is generic. We hired a national survey firm that conducted a telephone survey of individuals who had been in the market for real estate in the past year, or expected to be in the market in the coming year, to get their views of the word realtor. 90% of the survey respondents believed that the word realtor was generic, not a brand name. In contract, asked about "citibank", "allstate," and "century 21," over 90% of the survey respondents identified those words as being brand names. In cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, a division of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a trademark holder need to show that the trademark is recognized by at least 50% of the survey respondents as being a brand name, or the trademark is cancelled. Thousands of trademarks are cancelled each year by the TTAB. In this case, only 10% of the survey respondents recognized the word realtor as a trademark, far below the 50% required for NAR to keep the mark. In trademark litigation, it is common for trademark owners to submit their own survey of what the market thinks about the trademark, to try to prove 50% or more of the market considers the mark to be a brand name. NAR did not do so, indicating that they acknowledge the public considers the word realtor to be generic. I filed suit in federal court in San Diego for damages to two realty agents who were forced to purchase memberships in NAR, and their local and state associations of realtors. The suit seeks triple damages, an injunction against NAR, and attorneys fees for numerous antitrust violations by NAR, in conspiracy with the state associations of realtors, and the 1,600 local associations of realtors. The harassment that NAR gave you is typical of what they do to real estate agents who incorporate the word realtor in their domain. To my knowledge, NAR has never sued. In my view, they have never sued to enforce their alleged trademark rights because they have feared a counter-claim for cancellation of the trademarks. I expect the realtor trademarks will be cancelled by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Boards within one to three months after our hearing on Feb. 8, 2002, as past decisions by the TTAB in this case have typically taken one to three months from submission. A realty agent in Boston sought to trademark "surrealtor." NAR challenged that trademark application, and the surrealtor applicant responded with a petition to cancel the realtor trademark on the ground that realtor was generic, and therefore invalid. Realty agents who feel they were forced to pay dues to their local or state association of realtors, or NAR, should email me at jdabarry@pacbell.net for information on recovering damages for being forced to pay for real estate association services that were not requested. You should have your attorney contact me if you would like any further information on this topic. David Barry San Francisco 1.19.02