Urban Homesteaders Day of Action

One of My Urban Homesteading Projects

I like to stay away from negativity but there has been rather more than a bit of unrest in the  urban homesteading world and I will contribute my thoughts on the matter, for what they are worth…

I’ve mentioned my  roots in the homesteading movement here and  here on the old blog.   I also touched on it in my latest article in The Essential Herbal , Urban Herbalism. I grew up on a homestead and when we moved to a town not much changed.  If you look through the photos in my flicker feed to the right, you will see that I have pretty much carried on the family tradition although I might not bake as much bread as my Dad and Mom did. 

My Dad and Mom still  homestead although I know they don’t think of it that way. But they  raise a huge garden and preserve their own food and  although Dad traded the old woodstoves in on a pellet stove they are still more self-sufficient than most people I know.   So  I have to admit to a being a bit put out with a family who decided that they had the right to trademark a term that probably applied to my family long before it applied to theirs.

As a writer,  I am appalled by the fact that the Dervaes  were able to do it.  How is it possible that they could be granted a trademark  to  a term which was already the published title of a book?   The The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen , publishers of the website Root Simple (previously  Home Grown Evolution) was published  in 2008.   That was before the Dervaes Institute applied for their trademark.

I don’t even understand how the USPTO allowed this to happen.  I was under the impression that they researched trademark claims but this seems to imply to me that , like everything else in our government,  a trademark is available to the highest bidder.

To add insult to injury (or possibly vice versa in this case)  the  Dervaes Institute had the audacity to take legal action against,  Kelly and Erik.  Thankfully the good folk at EFF have taken on the case and issued a response to the Dervaes family’s ludicrous assertions.

I have to admit that I am processing a bit of worry today, for myself and every person I know trying to break free of the corporate stronghold.  I also admit to searching the USPTO website, afraid that they had trademarked the term “urban herbalism” amongst the slew of others they applied for.  (Awfully pricey way for a not-for-profit to throw around money.)  I was worried I might have unknowingly pulled my publisher and friend, Tina into some sort of mess.  Seriously, have we progressed to the point that we have to search for every title of every article we write in the database?

I also worry about many of my friends out there who are working so hard to get their own small businesses established but don’t have the funds to trademark their business names.   What happens to the small business owners and operators  when the big businesses ( or not-for-profits)  have the money to do things like this?

I like to try to look for the silver lining , though.    I am discovering so many wonderful new urban homesteading blogs today and connecting with wonderful people on the facebook page set up to discuss this situation.   I am sure that those connections will prove to be lasting while this fleeting controversy will soon be settled.  Now if I could just settle my nerves a bit.   I think I will go sip a cup of oatstraw and rose infusion, admire my clean closets and order some seeds to plant.       To my new friends and readers from the facebook group,  I am really looking forward to getting to know more of you.  Have a wonderful evening everyone.