Florida Keys News - Islamorada/KL Free Press
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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No one holds right to 'Conch Republic' name, judge rules
BY STEVE GIBBS Free Press Staff
sgibbs@keysnews.com

PLANTATION KEY -- The "Conch Republic," and any celebration using that phrase, belongs to no one person, according to a ruling Monday by Circuit Judge Luis Garcia.

The decision allows any group or individual to use the term in association with any event.

Key West merchant Peter Anderson has used the name since 1991 to promote Key West's Conch Republic Independence Celebration and objected to an Upper Keys group's efforts last year to hold its own Conch Republic event.

Garcia's ruling followed a one-hour hearing resulting from a motion filed by the Upper Keys Business Group's attorney Eric Griffin.

Griffin asked the court to dismiss an action filed by Anderson, claiming the exclusive right to use the terms "Conch Republic" and "Independence Celebration."

"This ruling means that no one has the exclusive right to use those terms," Griffin said.

"We can now hold our event at the end of April without Anderson's interference," said Howard Kolbenheyer, president of the UKBG. "The judge made a great decision that this belongs to the people of Monroe County."

Key Largo restaurant owner and former member of the UKBG Robert DeGiorgio said, in celebration of the ruling, he has printed 1,000 small flags with his trademark, "The Northernmost Territories of the Conch Republic," that he will give out free to anyone who asks.

Calls to Anderson for comment were not returned by press time.

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Did you see Andersons letter

Submitted on Sat, 01/16/2010 - 2:30pm by Ed
Did you see Andersons letter to the editor in today's paper. He says The Conch Republic is a country! This guy actually believes his own fantasy. Maybe some medication or some time in a pysch ward will help him recognize the difference between fantasy and reality.

Lets face it... The Conch

Submitted on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 9:15am by Ed
Lets face it... The Conch Republic is long gone. Replaced by upscale condos, hotels, cruise ships, and cheap tacky made in china trinkets. Once in a while you get glimpse of the Old Place, but it is getting rarer by the day. Today it is just another slogan our tourist gurus used to persuade gullible tourists to come here any enjoy our dirty beaches, dead reef, overpriced restaurants, and tourist tack. Now they are targeting Europeans since Americans are catching on. Next, there are always a billion or so Chinese people the TDC can market to. The Conch Republic was a moment in time and has been gone for at least 15 years. Anderson should sail away and start a new republic in some small islands off Colombia or Honduras.

Judges Ruling Does Not Matter, does it?

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 7:02pm
It really doesn't matter what a county judge says, other than putting to rest the local civil case. They both have federal trademarks registered. They both did that after the civil action started. That Northern Territories group had the nerve to register "Conch Republic Days", which is obviously blatant theft of Anderson's festival. Anderson registered "Conch Republic". Thus, these trademarks could be fought over in US District Court if they want to blow more money. Kind of like the morons with the bed and breakfast who registered "Key West Bed and Breakfast" and now don't want anyone else to use that phrase. None of these things should have been granted registration but of course nobody in this town reads the USPTO Gazette where these things are published for public comment and objections.

what a clown this guy is.

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 10:58am by Old School
what a clown this guy is. Send him back to the circus.

FINALLY! A judge makes a

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 10:11am by Ed
FINALLY! A judge makes a logical decision. I am going to start printing my tee shirts and flags now!

Going to start?

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 8:48pm by rabbitears
I've already ordered two thousand "Conch Republic/Mile Marker 0/Southernmost Point/90 Mi. to Cuba/Fantasy Fest/Gay Civil Unions" tee shirts and I am going to sell them on a folding table at Front and Duval.

Hey! That is my spot!!

Submitted on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 9:09am by Ed
Hey! That is my spot!! should be no problem getting a spot on Duval. The Southernmost House recently replaced a nice fountain with another tacky Fury Booth. I guess HARC rules dont apply to the connected... I am going to change my off street parking into a flea market and sell conch repblic tee shirts! hehehe

The so-called Northern Territories

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 9:18am
need to get a life. Why couldn't they come up with something original? They have to ride the coattails of someone else. They should start the "We are Key West's Little Sister" festival.

Well, Um

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 8:48pm
Uh, that would be because the Conch Republic is all of the Keys, not just Key West.

Yea!!

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 8:23am
I hope this deflates Anderson's ego a notch or two.

Original motto was

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 11:10am
"NO PASSPORTS NEEDED" but Peter started selling worthless passports to support his dellusion. Even changed the flag and "patented" the new design, all for his own profit and greed. Then tried to charge others for the use of a "concept".This is a step toward Justice.

The saddest part

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 8:05am
The saddest part about this whole story is that Peter Anderson has enveloped himself so in this fantasy that he actually believes that he's a Secretary General. Well, if the Conch Republic belongs to anyone, that would be former Mayor Dennis Wardlow, the true driving force behind the "revoltion." Yet Dennis has quietly stood in the background, allowing Peter to fulfill his fantasy (and make a lot of nice profit along the way). There's no real harm in Peter Anderson having fun with the Conch Republic theme, but there is harm in preventing others from enjoying the same fantasy.

So he owned the Conch Republic?

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 7:10am
I did not know Peter Anderson owned the Conch Republic? Probably no more than Al Gore invented the internet?

Two things:

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 1:45pm
(1.) Al Gore never claimed to have invented the internet. That was a myth ginned up by the rightwing media assassination squad which tried to discredit him in the 2000 election. (2.) Gore was, however, as a legislator, instrumental, through strong advocacy, in development of early government (military) computer networks (ARPAnet etc) which did in fact lay the groundwork for what later became what we now know as "the internet" (which really is a number of overlapping and interconnected networks). He did not "invent" it, nor did he ever claim to... but he did, correctly, say that he helped "initiate" what later evolved into it. Peter Anderson, on the other hand, never had anything close to a legitimate claim to the term "Conch Republic". The term is older than he is, I'm sure.

Exactly!

Submitted on Thu, 01/14/2010 - 6:41am
Al Gore did not invent the internet, nor does Peter Anderson own the Conch Republic. Thank you!

Without Anderson...

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 12:36pm
The Conch Republic would have faded into history as just another odd story in the book of the Keys. Has he profited from it? Yes - So has the city and local busniesses and BTW - profit isn't a bad thing. He has managed through hard work to keep alive the idea of the Conch Republic. 20 years is a long time and the judge should have recognized it.

It's starting to warm up

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 11:12am
the hot air is coming out of Anderson's head !

Conch Republic!?

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 10:37am
No person can even harvest conch here in the Keys, more like the Bahamas is the real Conch Republic.

When all the HOT AIR comes out of

Submitted on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 9:26am
Peter Anderson's head , Al Gore will say Peter is responsible for global warming.
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