Thanks to the hard work and dedication of CDH families around the world, our wonderful pro bono lawyers and the charities who put CDH awareness first - w e fight against the trademark on Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness!!!!!!!  

While the trademark on "Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness DAY" still stands and has not be petitioned, we believe that we won the bigger battle - keeping Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness free for everyone to raise!!!!   And with that, we will continue to raise Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness DAILY!


News Update 3/2010:

Breath of Hope, Incorporated posted a public letter to declare that they were "removing the trademark" on "Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness" due to a ruling made by the USPTO against their petition to dismiss the case.  While they still believe they own rights to this phrase and call it their "intellectual property" and falsely claim that they never used it to harm others despite that being court record, we are happy that this trademark issue might soon be resolved.

http://breath-of-hope.blogspot.com/2010/03/statement-on-trademark-congenital.html

You can update through the USPTO site to when, and if, Breath of Hope, Inc follows through on their word to end this and give CDH Awareness back to those it belows to; the families and researchers affected by Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness.

http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92050284&pty=CAN&eno=2

 
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*** ipetitions.com updated their software and altered our page.  The petition itself has not changed:

This petition is started in part of an appeal process against an application with the U.S. Patent & Trademark office for ownership of the awareness of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH).

CDH is a rare and often deadly birth defect that affects 1600 babies in the U.S. each year. 1 organization is seeking to own the term "Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness" and therefore dictating it\'s use. This would be detrimental to every cause, every CDH organization, every family affected by Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia that wishes to raise awareness, advocacy, research and support of this birth defect in memory and in honor of these babies. This would effectively exclude everyone but a few within a specific organization of using CDH Awareness ribbons, petitioning the government of CDH Awarness Days, holding events, fundraisers and any other activities in correlation for raising awareness of this disease without specific permission from one specific individual within one organization for their benefit.

It is our collective opinion that no one should benefit from the pain and / or deaths of babies born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia by claiming ownership of the awareness of this birth defect. We petition the United States Trademark & Copyright office to deny claims to this term and any terms that would negatively affect the families, medical care givers and general public who may be affected by CDH. As this would be detrimental to several other organizations who have been practicing CDH Awareness for over a decade, 1000\'s of families around the world and general public - we hereby sign that we petition against the ownership and trademark of the phrase "Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness" by Breath of Hope, Inc and any entity, organization or individual.

You can view the application for trademark ownership of "Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness" as well as all the trademark paperwork here: 

http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92050284&pty=CAN&eno=2




From the United States Trademark & Patent office: Word Mark CONGENITAL DIAPHRAGMATIC HERNIA AWARENESS Goods and Services IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Promoting public awareness of congenital diaphragmatic hernia; Public advocacy to promote awareness of congenital diaphragmatic hernia. FIRST USE: 20070701. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20070701 Standard Characters Claimed Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK Serial Number 77436855 Filing Date April 1, 2008 Current Filing Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Supplemental Register Date July 16, 2008 Owner (APPLICANT) Breath of Hope, Incorporated CORPORATION VIRGINIA PO Box 6627, Charlottesville VIRGINIA 22906 Type of Mark SERVICE MARK Register SUPPLEMENTAL Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

That organization\'s only response, with no reasoning for why they want to do such a horrible thing, is that they wouldn\'t police how Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness is used. This is not true. This organization began threatening to sue over the use of "Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness" in 2007, without grounds, without owning the trademark that was applied for on April 1st of 2008 as per the documents on the U.S. Patent Office\'s official web site signed by the CEO of this organization.

The lawsuit threats and complaint filings have continued through 2010 as well.