MADISON, Wis.-A dispute has arisen over who owns "CUREN," an acronym for Credit Union Real Estate Network, and both sides say they are just trying to protect the free exchange of information.
Mark Martella, a mortgage consultant for $3.5-billion Patelco CU, Pleasanton, Calif., applied for a trademark for the CUREN name, but CUNA Mutul Group says it owns the mark and has issued a cease-and-desist letter.
According to the American Credit Union Mortgage Association, identifies 15 CURENs located thoughout the U.S., which consist of local CUs that want to increase the focus of residential real estate lending in their CUs.
Martella said when he began working at Patelco in 1997 there was a Sacramento CUREN of which he was a part. "It wasn't until 2004 we thought someone should put a trademark on this to prevent any one vendor from claiming the name CUREN," he said. "If you go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website you will see I applied back in 2004 and later abandoned it due to lack of funds. I picked it back up in March of this year."
According to Register.com, Martella registered www.curen.org on Nov. 14, 2003, and that, also, was cited in the CUNA Mutual cease-and-desist letter, asking Martella to relinquish the domain name. "I would say, ask any credit union and they'd say CUNA Mutual doesn't own it," Martella said.
In an e-mail obtained by CU Journal, Martella states: "I'm not sure why CUNA Mutual is claiming they own this trademark. This trademark belongs to the credit unions. I'm trying to do the right thing and prevent an insurance GIANT from claiming a free enterprise enjoyed by credit unions around the country. I view the attached letter as a threat and will seek credit unions' support to protect what is ours."
Trademark Rights Date From Use
Jim McCoy, associate general counsel for CUNA Mutual Group, said the mark "CUREN" is something CMG MI, its private insurance affiliate, has been using "for some years." "We know there are a number of different credit union networks that have used the name CUREN for idea sharing," he said. "Mr. Martella himself has filed an intent-to-use application for the mark. We put him on notice that CMG MI has been using the mark."
According to McCoy, CUNA Mutual is concerned because under trademark law ownership must be consolidated into one entity to be protectable. He said the company is "very interested" in making sure CUs can use the mark in a "license-free way."
"We want credit unions to rely on it and not pay any money for it," he said. "We don't restrict credit unions; we want to ensure the quality of the services by having one entity in charge of administering the mark. We feel we are in the best position to do so."
Neither CUNA Mutual nor CMG MI have made a trademark application for "CUREN," McCoy acknowledged, but he said trademark rights apply from use.
"Obtaining a registration allows the user to certain rights, but you don't need to have a registration to have trademark rights," he asserted. "CMG MI used it beginning in 1999. CMG MI has sponsored a number of activities in these real estate networks."
ACUMA President Bob Dorsa said his organization has its roots in the first CUREN, which was comprised of people in the Los Angeles area and that CMG MI participated in the formation meetings of ACUMA. "All CURENS are not exactly the same. What rights are we protecting for whom? What we should be discussing is we get to 10% [mortgage] market share. By quibbling over these types of things we are taking our eye off the ball."
