Trademark tussle targets Net knitters

In February, Hemmy So, a reporter for the Los Angles Times, reported that a New York company had launched a trademark dispute against online knitting groups in the United States that call themselves Stitch ‘N Bitch. The owner of the company maintains that she started the first Stitch ‘N Bitch group in New York in 1997, and that other groups are “infringing on her trademark for an online message board that incorporates the name.” Letters were sent to online knitting groups telling them to quit calling themselves Stitch ‘N Bitch, according to So’s story.

My group, which has no Internet presence, has called itself Stitch ‘n Bitch – no capital N – for at least 15 years. By 1997 the founders of my group already had been stitching and bitching for a decade. For us, Stitch ‘n Bitch is not only a name, the way we identify ourselves as a group, it’s a description of what we do, and have done all these years, when we meet. We knit, sew, crochet, embroider (stitching) and talk about stuff – children, family, aging, empty nests, new babies, weddings, deaths, divorces, annoying situations, triumphs, tribulations and self-re-inventions (bitching). Our collective identity as a group cannot be separated from what we do with needles, yarn and fabric. Stitching and bitching is tightly interwoven into the friendships we have nurtured all these years. The phrase, stitch ‘n bitch, is felted into us.

No doubt other groups in other states also call themselves Stitch ‘n Bitch, and no doubt many of those groups were established long before 1997, as mine was, long before the Internet was invented.

My Stitch ‘n Bitch group is way too loosely organized to have a Web site, let alone a message board, and we don’t aspire to one, so I guess we won’t run afoul of the trademark claim by that route, as some Web-based Stitch ‘N Bitch groups already have, So reported.

But if the trademark claim to Stitch ‘N Bitch is found to have merit by whatever entity decides such things, and is carried beyond the porous boundaries of cyberspace, will that leave the rest of us scrambling around to find new names for our groups?

I can see it all now as the hundred of thousands of us who have been calling ourselves Stitch ‘n Bitch for a decade or more bend over our needles. Steam escapes from our ears, our jaws are clenched with annoyance as we grapple with this unforeseen identity crisis. Should we refer to ourselves as sew and complain, needle and natter, yarn and trash talk, or thread and fault finding?

It is interesting to note that a link button on the Web site of the business laying claim to Stitch ‘N Bitch is labeled “Stitch and Bitch groups.” To me, this implies a generic interpretation and usage of the term, suggesting that the “Oz” behind the Web site thinks of these groups out there in cyberspace in Stitch ‘n Bitch terms.

Traditionally, those of us who engage in knitting and other forms of needlework have one important – dare I say sacred – ingredient in common: Sharing. We share stitching knowledge, patterns, ideas, supplies and friendship. And many of us share the generic name that serves to identify who we are and what we do – Stitch ‘n Bitch. In my opinion, sharing the name Stitch ‘n Bitch – no matter how the middle word is spelled – is a good thing to do.

Snippets

. For those of you who list rug hooking as your needlework passion, be sure to attend the Maine State Museum Hook-In 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, March 25, at the museum. Old hands at the craft are invited to bring their current projects. Those who want to try rug hooking for the first time will find new burlap patterns set in frames and may experiment for themselves. Visitors also may tour the “Rugs All Marked Out” exhibit. There is no admission fee to the event. Call the museum at 287-2301 for more information.

. The Bangor Center Corp. invites vendors to submit applications for an outdoor Artisans’ Market in downtown Bangor for six consecutive Thursdays beginning June 15. Artisans may sell their fine art or crafts, or specialty foods they have prepared or raised, such as popcorn, baked goods, canned or preserved goods, or fresh produce. Guidelines are available at www.downtownbangor.com, or call 992-4234.

. A special thank-you to the Hammond Street Senior Center knitter who donated two gorgeous, vibrant pink squares for the “cat mat” project.

Ardeana Hamlin may be reached at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.