According to the Independent, the battle for the label "Surf City USA" that has been unfolding between the coastal California cities of Santa Cruz and Huntington Beach has developed into a fully fledged legal dispute. Santa Cruz, located roughly an hour south of San Francisco, is widely known for its liberal leftist-activist bent as well as its world class waves. One can spot bumper stickers that read "Keep Santa Cruz Weird" just about anywhere in town. The city is also home to the University of California Santa Cruz, whose unconventional campus mascot is the Banana Slug, directly inspired by the bright yellow mollusk that inhabits the coastal redwood forests of the area. Santa Cruz is said to be the place where in 1886 three Hawaiian princes first introduced surfing to the continental U.S. Huntington Beach, the more affluent southern California city whose 'surf, sand and party' lifestyle was notably celebrated by the Beach Boys, hosts numerous major surfing competitions year-round. Both of these coastal cities are world famous surf spots, attracting surfers from around the globe, particularly during winter when coastal swells peak due to a steady influx of Pacific storm fronts.
A few months ago, Huntington Beach--a city whose tourism lags behind that of Santa Cruz-- took the first controversial step by trademarking the name Surf City USA. Since then, the city's lawyers have been doling out cease-and-desist letters to shops and small businesses in Santa Cruz selling items baring the Surf City label, reinvigorating the classic NorCal vs. SoCal surf turf rivalry. Noland's surf shop, located on the Santa Cruz wharf, became the first target of Huntington Beach's legal wrath when the southern California city threatened the store with a lawsuit if it did not remove its entire inventory of a T-shirt that reads "Surf City Santa Cruz California USA" by the end of this month. Other businesses in Santa Cruz baring the Surf City label, such as Surf City Produce and Surf City Coffee, expect to be targeted soon.
Despite Huntington Beach's competitive hostility towards the unashamedly goofy beach town located at the northern tip of the Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz has so far gained more than it has lost over the controversy. A spokeswoman for the Santa Cruz tourist office said the Surf City dispute has had a positive impact on local tourism in the area, telling one reporter that the legal battle has "put Santa Cruz on the map. We couldn't have bought that kind of publicity." Link to story below. -TW
Surf City rivals make legal waves over trademark (The Independent)
No comments:
Post a Comment