PORTLAND, Maine — A Massachusetts company holding the trademark to the term “fire cider” has fired back at the owner of an herbal remedy company based in Union and two others, seeking to hash out a trademark dispute in federal court instead of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Shire City Herbals, based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month against Katheryn Langelier of Herbal Revolution Farm and Apothecary in Union and two other tonic producers. The suit applies financial pressure that has led the three to launch an effort Tuesday to crowdfund their legal defense.
The group said Tuesday in a post at change.org that their attorneys had been working at no cost in the trademark case so far.
The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts comes after a longer dispute between the parties stemming from Shire City’s defense of the trademark for the term “fire cider” it received in 2012. Shire City said in documents filed with patent officials that its defense included requests for e-commerce site Etsy to prohibit other companies attempting to sell herbal tonics using the trademarked term.
The herbalists challenging Shire City’s trademark said it’s a vinegar-based herbal remedy that typically includes hot peppers, horseradish, onion, garlic and vinegar.
Langelier said she changed the name of her herbal tonic in 2014 in response to a request from Shire City. Langelier asserts she has been making the herbal remedy under the name “Fire Cider No. 9” since the 1990s.
Shire City’s legal actions prompted Langelier and two other tonic makers in Rhode Island and Texas to launch a change.org petition to challenge the trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The formal petition led by Rhode Island herbal remedy producer Mary Blue alleges the term “fire cider” has been in use since the 1970s, published in books by herbalist and writer Rosemary Gladstar.
“This term ‘fire cider’ has become a generic term that many companies use when selling very similar concoctions to the one trademarked,” the petition states.
That petition initially was joined by another Maine-based herbal supplier, Southern Maine Herbalists of Lyman, owned by Lorna Henley, but that petition was withdrawn.
The complaint against Langelier, Blue and Nicole Telkes of Austin, Texas, alleges 10 counts of trade law violations, including trademark infringement, trade disparagement, unfair trade practices and business interference.
Langelier said Shire City’s trademark has had a negative impact on her business.
“This trademark has had a direct and negative impact on small herbal businesses who are trying to make a living doing what they love, which is to work with plants,” Langelier said in a prepared statement.
Shire City has asked patent officials to delay consideration of the petition until the case can be heard before a federal judge in Massachusetts, which an attorney for the other herbalists has opposed.
Langelier and the other defendants in the federal case have a June 1 deadline to respond to Shire City’s allegations.