Of Trademarks and Charities

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the non-profit sector (including some time as the in-house grant writer for a non-profit and a lot of consulting work in the early 2000s), and I’ve also got what you might consider a personal stake in the search for a cure for cancer – I’m the son of a three-time cancer survivor (it got her on the fourth try) and I carry the genes that will give any female offspring I ever have a dramatically increased risk for the disease. So I was a bit taken aback this week when I saw an article on Huffington Post ranting and raving about The Susan G. Komen Foundation entering into legal action over the use of the word “cure” by other non-profit organizations. Certainly, the idea of one of the nation’s leading fundraisers squandering funds on legal actions is not a pleasant one. But, as usual, when you actually read the article, the scenario is a bit murkier than you might expect from the headline…

To begin with, the language in the article is intentionally inflammatory, stating that the Foundation “patrols the waters” looking for agencies using the word “cure” so that it can sue them; it then goes on to indicate that the Komen Foundation has already filed more than a hundred of these allegedly cruel and heartless legal actions, presumably just to eliminate the competition and retain its position of importance, or some such thing. Certainly, the people who are commenting on the original story seem to think so, carrying on at great length about how this allegedly wealthy and powerful organization is more concerned with crushing the competition than it is with doing its job. All of which sounds very nefarious indeed, until you consider what is actually at stake in these proceedings…

First, consider that the Komen Foundation has, in fact, spent a great deal of money and effort establishing its “brand” – which, in the case of a non-profit, means establishing that it is an efficient and effective way for you to contribute towards a cause you believe in. Like all non-profit corporations, you can read the Komen Foundation’s Annual Report and decide for yourself if they are spending money in ways and proportions of which you approve, and if you don’t approve of them, you can always give money to the American Cancer Society , or the Concern Foundation , or any number of other groups that raise money for cancer research. Now consider that not all of the agencies out there using the phrase “for the cure” are actually raising money for cancer research, or indeed actually raising money for any charitable cause. If people start getting the idea that anyone who says they are doing something “for the cure” is a scam artist, this will cut into the Komen Foundation’s support, lower their effectiveness, and work against their actual cause (which as noted above, I’m actually in favor of). But that isn’t even the worst of it…

The other fact that is being overlooked here is that the Komen Foundation isn’t suing any of these “mom and pop” charities for money; they’re simply telling them to stop using the phrase “for the cure” in their fundraising. The author (and many of the people interviewed for the article) makes a big deal about these small agencies being “forced” to spend money on lawyers to defend themselves, but the truth is they don’t have to spend anything; they just need to call their fundraising programs something else. And the argument that the Komen Foundation could just ignore these little charity groups is even more ridiculous; as noted in other posts, if you don’t defend a trademark even one time you probably can’t ever defend it again, and as noted above here, if the Foundation loses this trademark there will be genuine consequences, not only for them but for anyone who currently has or ever will have cancer…

I haven’t audited the Komen Foundation’s spending profile, so I can’t actually tell you if the amount they are spending on legal fees is appropriate in percentage terms. But if the amount offends you in absolute terms, you have the same recourse you have with any other non-profit: write to them and ask them to return your donation, and they will. Just as the American Red Cross did after 9/11, and just as any other non-profit group is obliged to do if you ask…