Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Electronic Filing System. http://estta.uspto.gov
`ESTTA220830
`ESTTA Tracking number:
`06/27/2008
`
`Filing date:
`IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`BEFORE THE TRADEMARK TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`91178960
`Plaintiff
`Nike, Inc.
`Kevin C. Parks
`Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Ltd.
`Two Prudential Plaza Suite 4900 , 180 N. Stetson
`Chicago, IL 60601
`UNITED STATES
`kparks@leydig.com, jdavid@leydig.com, trademark@leydig.com
`Motion for Summary Judgment
`Kevin Parks
`kparks@leydig.com
`/Kevin Parks/
`06/27/2008
`Butters report signed 6-12-08.pdf ( 17 pages )(452887 bytes )
`Butters Report Exs. A&B.pdf ( 14 pages )(257359 bytes )
`
`Proceeding
`Party
`
`Correspondence
`Address
`
`Submission
`Filer's Name
`Filer's e-mail
`Signature
`Date
`Attachments
`
`

`
`IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`BEFORE THE TRADEMARK TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`Opposition No.
`Serial No. 76/552,822
`
`\./\./\./\./\./\./\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
`
`NIKE, INC.,
`
`Opposer,
`
`V.
`
`Gregory A. Bordes
`
`Applicant
`
`Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
`Commissioner for Trademarks
`
`P.O. Box l45l
`
`Alexandria, Virginia 223 l3- l 45 l
`
`DECLARATION AND REPORT OF RONALD R. BUTTERS Ph.D.
`
`Ronald R. Butters, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, declares as follows:
`
`l. I am Ronald R. Butters, a resident of Durham, North Carolina, and Professor
`
`Emeritus, Duke University, where I have served (1967-2007) as a member of the faculty
`
`of the Departments of English and Cultural Anthropology and at various times chaired
`
`both the English Department and the Linguistics Program. I received my doctorate in
`
`English with a concentration in linguistics from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, where
`
`I received advanced training in the study of both linguistics and literature. I serve on the
`
`Advisory Board of the New Oxford American Dictionary, published by the Oxford
`
`

`
`University Press, and I am an active member of the American Dialect Society, the
`
`American Name Society, the Dictionary Society of North America, the Linguistic Society
`
`of America,
`
`the Law and Society Association,
`
`the Southeastern Conference on
`
`Linguistics, and the International Association of Forensic Linguists (of which I am
`
`currently vice president and journal co-editor). A copy of my current curriculum vitae,
`
`detailing my educational background, professional experience, teaching areas, and
`
`publications, is attached hereto as “Exhibit ‘A’.” This Declaration and Report is made
`
`based on my research and personal knowledge and expertise. If sworn as a witness, I
`
`could testify competently to the matters stated herein.
`
`2. In addition to my ongoing academic research interests, I am also self-employed
`
`as a consultant and expert in the field of English linguistics. In this capacity I have
`
`testified and/or served as an expert witness before state and federal trial courts and boards
`
`in California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana,
`
`Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and
`
`West Virginia, as well as in cases brought before the United States Patent and Trademark
`
`Off1ce’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. A list of all cases in which I have testified
`
`as an expert at trial or by deposition within the preceding four years is attached hereto as
`
`“Exhibit ‘B’ .”
`
`3. Within linguistics, my principal area of research is contemporary American
`
`English, including (but not limited to) words and their meanings. As “Exhibit ‘A’ ”
`
`indicates, for nearly 40 years I have been active in research and teaching in the field of
`
`English linguistics.
`
`I have written many scientific studies that have appeared in
`
`

`
`recognized and respected peer-reviewed linguistics journals and books, and I have given
`
`numerous oral presentations of the results of my work, frequently by invitation, before
`
`learned societies both in the United States and abroad. I was also the editor of peer-
`
`reviewed scientific publications of the American Dialect Society for 25 years.
`
`4. I am being compensated in this case at an hourly rate of $325.
`
`5. Linguistics is the scientific study of human language in all
`
`its various
`
`aspects—historical, cultural, social, and psychological—as exhibited in the spoken and
`
`written forms of the languages and dialects of the world. It encompasses the subfields of
`
`phonology or sound structure; graphemics, which is the relationship between writing
`
`systems (or orthographies) and the sounds of languages; morphology or word structure;
`
`syntax, the rules for organizing words into phrases and sentences; semantics or word and
`
`sentence meanings (the subfield of word-meaning alone is called lexicology, and the
`
`particular study of names is termed onomastics); lexicography or dictionary making;
`
`and pragmatics, the study of how the meanings and interpretations of spoken and written
`
`language are related to each other and to the contexts of language use (including
`
`discourse contexts and the semiotic contexts of extralinguistic meaning systems such as
`
`the associations that members of a culture hold for signs, that is, colors, shapes, and
`
`visual patterns). The professional opinions that I set forth below are based upon standard
`
`linguistic theories and methodologies, especially those pertaining to onomastics,
`
`lexicography, lexicology, and discourse analysis.
`
`6. In the above-captioned proceeding, 1 have been engaged on behalf of the
`
`opposer, Nike, Inc., to provide my professional opinion as a linguistics expert regarding
`
`

`
`(1) use of the term B—More (also spelled B ’More) as a geographical term of reference
`
`(also called place name or toponym) indicating the city of Baltimore, Maryland; and (2)
`
`the primary meaning and significance of B—More to the general and consuming public.
`
`7. In my research I have examined (1) sources mentioned in this report that I
`
`found through my independent research (the results of which are reproduced in “Exhibit
`
`‘C’ ” attached hereto); and (2) the documents and materials referenced below, which
`
`were supplied by counsel (these also are reproduced in “Exhibit ‘C’,” on the pages
`
`indicated below):
`
`a. Notice of Opposition, IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT
`AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, BEFORE THE TRADEMARK
`
`TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD, NIKE, INC., Opposer, V.
`Gregory A. Bordes, Applicant (August 15, 2007, Serial No.
`76/552,822) [“Exhibit ‘C’,” pp67—69]
`b. A two-page printout from the Business section of the Rocky
`Mountain News (Colorado), which appeared as a news story on
`November 27, 2004, p2C. (Available online at
`http://nl.newsbank.con1/nlsearch/we/Archives?p_action=li
`st&p_topdoc=l 1) [‘‘Exhibit ‘C’,” pp2l—22]
`c. A computer file (labeled DSCF0l03.JPG) containing the
`photograph of the bottom of an athletic shoe [“Exhibit ‘C’,”
`p66]; within a circle in the center of the sole of the shoe the
`following image appears:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`The text of this image is as follows:
`
`. 5-23-84
`
`C 15 A
`.
`. BMORE
`
`According to the news story in the Rocky Mountain News
`referenced as (b) above, such a shoe was created and marketed
`by Nike to honor the basketball star, Carmelo Anthony, who is
`from Baltimore. The newspaper story further indicates that “.5-
`23-84’’ on the bottom of the shoe is Mr. Anthony’s birthdate;
`that “l5” references his player number; that the “C” and “A”
`stand for Mr. Anthony’s initials, and that “BMORE” is a place-
`name or geographical designator for Mr. Anthony’s home town.
`d. A link to the web site
`
`http://www.bmorefund.org/ [see “Exhibit ‘C’,” p58]
`e. A link to the web site
`
`http://www.baltimorecollegetown.org/asp/activity_main.a
`sp?categoryID=9 [see “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp56—57]
`f. A link to the web site
`
`http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=b-more
`[see “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp3—4]
`
`1. Summary of Findings
`
`8. In contemporary American English, the word B—M0re (variously spelled) is a
`
`common geographical term (i.e., place-name or toponym) used for decades in casual
`
`speech and writing to designate the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It functions both as an
`
`abbreviation and as an informal but widely understood nickname for Baltimore that is
`
`even used by official departments of the city itself.
`
`9. Because it has for so long been so widely used to name the city itself, the
`
`primary significance and meaning of B—M0re to ordinary citizens of Baltimore (and other
`
`parts of the United States) is as a geographical description of the city, and not as a
`
`reference to any particular product or source.
`
`

`
`11. Discussion
`
`A. Evidence Found in Reference Works
`
`10. The online reference work Wikipedia indicates in two places that B—M0re is a
`
`well-known nickname used to designate the city of Baltimore, Maryland:
`
`a. “Baltimore / °America’s Comeback City / °B-More /
`°Bodymore, Maryland/ °Charm City/ °Crab Cake Capitol of the
`World / -Mobtown / -Monument City / -The City that Bleeds /
`The
`Greatest
`City
`in
`America”
`[http ://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/List_of_city_nicknames_in_the_U
`nited_States#Maryland, p5 of 15, downloaded 3/3 1/08;
`reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” pl]
`b. “Nickname: Charm City, Mob Town, B-More, Crabtown, The
`City
`of
`Firsts, Monument
`City,
`B-Town”
`[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_Maryland, p l of l9,
`downloaded 3/3 1/08; reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” p2]
`
`ll. The online Urban Dictionary confirms Wz'kz'pedz'a’s information:
`
`a. “b-more / Baltimore, MD.”
`b. “b-more / aka Baltimore, a city in Maryland ...”
`C. “b-more / Baltimore, found in the state of Maryland ...”
`d. “B-more / The most gangsta city in the world, we are the murda
`capital aka Bodymore, Murdaland ...”
`e. “b-more / Definately [sic] one of the best cities ever.
`Baltimore. ...”
`
`[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=b-more,
`ppl&2 of 2, downloaded 3/ 18/08; reproduced below, “Exhibit
`pp3~41
`
`12. While these online reference works were not complied by professional
`
`lexicographers, they serve authoritatively as a strong indication of the popularity of B-
`
`

`
`More as a general nickname for Baltimore,1 and testify strongly that the nickname is a
`
`well-known and widely used toponym in informal speech.
`
`B. B-More in Everyday Speech and Writing
`
`13. B—M0re ‘Baltimore’ is well represented in contemporary informal writing and
`
`representations of everyday speech. Furthermore, informal publications such as popular
`
`novels and magazines and the features sections of newspapers frequently make use of B-
`
`More ‘Baltimore’ as simple geographical designators. Here are some examples:
`
`a.
`
`b.
`
`c.
`
`“sarah...don.t write me back until i give you my bmore addy [=
`‘Baltimore
`address’].
`hope you liked my letter.”
`[http://www.livejoumal.com/users/ms_anthrope/, p8 of 9; blog,
`“|k|tighe's Journal” for 5/13/04, downloaded 9/8/04; reproduced
`below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp5—6]
`“The Nike Air Force One sneaker was designed for NBA
`players, and worn not only by them and their fans, but also by a
`myriad of Hip-Hop shoe junkies who have in many ways
`transformed the essence of the shoe game. Initially, the Air
`Force One was a one-time deal. However, thanks to the genius
`of the “Three Amigos,” a group of shoe storeowners in B’m0re,
`Nike continued Air Force One production and re-released the
`Air Force One in the mid-l990s.” [“Cummerbund and Fanny
`Pack,” The Water Tower News, 3/6/07, pl of 9,
`http://www.thewatertowemews.com/2007/03/06/cummerbund-
`and-fanny-pack/; unofficial publication at the University of
`Vermont, downloaded 3/ 18/08; reproduced below, “Exhibit
`‘C’,” p7]
`“Baltimore club, also called Baltimore breaks, Baltimore house,
`
`Baltimore bass, BMOre, knucklehead, thump and Dew Doo
`beat, is a genre of house and dance music. A blend of hip hop
`and house, it was created in Baltimore, Maryland in the early
`1990s by Scottie B.,1]] In recent years Baltimore club has moved
`away from clubs like the Paradox and into the studio with rap
`artists. This combination of club music and rap has created a
`new subgenre in hip hop music to rival other regional scenes.
`
`1Wz'kz'pedz'a, furthermore, is open to editing by professionals, and editorial controls are in place such that
`frivolous and self—interested material is to be removed.
`
`

`
`The club movement has gained momentum; in January 2007,
`DJ Booman produced a B-more remix for Diddy on Bad Boy
`Records. DJ Excel produced a B-more remix of Hangar 18's
`“Baking Soda” for the Baltimore club independent underground
`hip-hop label Definitive Jux as well.
`...” [“Baltimore club,”
`
`at
`3/31/08
`downloaded
`entry in Wikip edia,
`http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Music, ppl&2 of 2;
`reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp 8-9]
`“[title:] ‘Famous B’m0re natives / Several famous people have
`grown up in or near our beloved Charm City’/ By Grace H.
`Hong / Issue date: 11/1/02
`[1]] If you've ever seen The
`Muppet Show or Sesame Street (who didn’t?) on television,
`you'll be proud to learn that Jim Henson (1936-1990) was also
`from the Baltimore area. He, in fact, attended the University of
`Maryland. Tori Amos is another B’m0re native who attended
`college here: namely, the Peabody Conservatory of Music.
`Actor John Astin is yet another notable Baltimore native. He
`was born in B’m0re and attended our very own Johns Hopkins
`University.”
`[downloaded 3/31/08, ppl&2 of 2
`at
`2http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/media/storage/paper932/
`news/2002/ 1 1/0 1/Features/Famous.Bm0re.Natives-
`
`2248973.shtml; reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp 10-11]
`“BALTIMORE/ ‘Charm City’ / ‘BMore’, ‘B-More’ / ‘City of
`Firsts’ / ‘Monumental City’ / Seems to me it should also have
`been ‘Start Spangled City’ as a nickname since the National
`Anthem was penned there.” [“City Nicknames (weather, live)”
`Cz'ty—Data.c0m, posted 2/18/08, downloaded 3/30/08 at
`http://www.cikty-data.com/forum/general-u-s/255827-city-
`nicknames-8.html, p2 of 5; online chat group; reproduced
`below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp 12-16]
`“All sought at least one pair of the high-tops, which feature
`Anthony's first name on top and his birth date - May 29, 1984 -
`and jersey No. 15 on the bottom. His hometown of Baltimore
`also is recognized on the sole as ‘B More’. ” [“FANS GIVE
`HOOP-HOOP HURRAY FOR MELO SHOES,” by David
`Kesmodel, Rocky Mountain News, November 27, 2004, p2C,
`downloaded
`3/18/08
`at http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-
`search/we/Archives?p_action=list&p_topdoc=1 1; reproduced
`below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp 21-22]
`“The following morning I picked up $25,000 from my boys in
`I B-More and I caught a flight home $100,000 strong, give or
`take a few dollars.” [Kedrin Kizzee, Diary ofa Nymp//10 (2007),
`p55,
`downloaded
`3/31/08
`at
`http://books.google.com/books?id=USEbh6M7vUUC&pg=PA5
`
`8
`
`

`
`5&lpg=PA55&dq=%22The+following+morning+I+picked+up
`+%2425,000%22&source=web&ots=o95KYah8oH&sig=dTcqa
`HXNtT-jX43l_j7pDTuppwc&hl=en;
`reproduced below,
`“Exhibit ‘C’,” pp 19-22]
`“Tell me a little bit about how you work the credit, and I’ll tell
`I you about Baltimore [p49]”; “With a Black Box storing
`information in California and Utah, Blacky and I were getting
`
`ready for another trip to B-More. Rather than calling Mike and
`
`J,
`
`[p53]”; “We were supposed to meet P so we could get our
`
`plastic ready for out next trip to B-More. But I ended up
`
`dealing with it alone as Blacky was on some ghetto
`
`[p57]”;
`
`“Nathaniel told us that a lot dudes from B-More hung out at the
`strip club I followed Yo to. Again I asked Nathaniel to do some
`
`investigating on Yo
`
`[p5 9]”; “I resealed the box and affixed a
`
`packaging label for delivery to a B-More hotel. [p6l]”; “We'd
`
`lay our heads at the third hotel while in B-More. [p62]”; “I
`didn't know
`if there really was dudes from LA selling weed
`
`Bobby prior to making my last trip to B-More he explained in a
`
`round about way that he had a few women ready to shop
`
`[p85]”; “What Blacky failed to understand was at least in B-
`
`More we had Nate and some background on JR. [p88]” [“You
`,7,
`66
`can still go to B-More or wherever you want [p92] ,
`
`me and
`
`my luggage from a southern California airport to B- more. The
`fee? $7000. [p202]” [Two Collar Crime, a detective story by
`Kedrin
`Kizzee,
`downloaded
`3/31/08
`at
`
`http://www.lulu.com/content/431645
`
`AND
`
`http://books.google.com/books?id=0phNIYp9Pu8C&printsec=b
`
`ackcover&dq=%22Two+Collar+Crime%22&source=gbs_sum
`
`mary_s&cad=0#PRA1-PA45,M1; reproduced below, “Exhibit
`‘C’,” pp 23-28]
`was ‘Beans got his stiff card, hopped the
`“Another example
`hound for B-More today to show at the Cadwallader smoker for
`soft-soling and a quick load.’ [1]] This means, Princeton students
`were informed, that a young man named Beans had been invited
`to a dance at the home of the Cadwallader family in Baltimore
`and. ...” [from an article on slang that appeared in the Merriam-
`Webster journal, Word Study, in February 1942, p7 (cited there
`as having appeared previously in The New York Herald-
`Tribune); reporting on an earlier story that appeared in the
`October 10, 1941 issue of The Princeton Alumni Weekly (p7);
`both are reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp 29-32]
`
`

`
`14. As citation (i) indicates, scholars writing in the journal Word Study noted that,
`
`as early as 1941-42, B—M0re was in active use in slang as a toponym or geographical
`
`indicator for the city of Baltimore. Citation (a) demonstrates that it is likewise in common
`
`casual use—in an online blog—nowadays (2004); citation (e), from an online list-serve,
`
`reproduces the opinions of list-serve subscribers in 2008 that BM0re and B—M0re are
`
`well-known nicknames for Baltimore. Citation (c) shows that B—m0re or BM0re is so
`
`commonplace a place-name that it has been attached as a prefix to a particular kind of
`
`club music originating in Baltimore. In citations (b) and (1) the authors recognize that
`
`B ’More and B More are used as nicknames for Baltimore in connection with Nike shoes.
`
`Citations (g), (h), and (i) are all from novels published in 2007; they use B-More
`
`numerous times as an accepted and recognized place-name meaning ‘Baltimore’. Citation
`
`(d) is from an online website published by a Baltimore booster; it uses B ’More as an
`
`affectionate toponym meaning ‘Baltimore’.
`
`15. The quotations cited here are merely a small portion of what is available
`
`bearing upon the status of B—M0re and its congeners as simple, well-known, colloquial
`
`geographical designators in the popular mind for the city of Baltimore.
`
`C. B’M0re, B-More, et al. as Abbreviations
`
`a.
`
`b.
`
`“Wouldn't that be an abbreviation rather than a pronunciation?
`Sort of like San Fran or B-more?” [Tom Vincent, American
`Dialect Society Mailing List, 1/23/06, p 1 of 1, downloaded
`3/31/08
`at
`http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-
`bin/wa?A2=ind0601D&L=ADS-L&P=R2186&I=-3; repro-
`duced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” p34]
`“When Ephron met B’M0re” [headline, Baltimore Sun, June
`13, 1993, by Sylvia Badger, downloaded 3/30/08 at
`2http ://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/ 1 12474123.html?d
`
`10
`
`

`
`ids=. . . author=SYLVIA+BADGER&pub=The+ Sun&desc=Whe
`n+Ephron+met+B%27more, pl of 2; reproduced below,
`“Exhibit ‘C’,” pp35—36]
`“Pl/iila., B’M0re and Wash. R. Co. v. Schubert, 224 U.S. 603
`
`c.
`
`(191 l)” [Claire H. Liachowitz, Disability as a Social Construct.‘
`Legislative R00ts (Univ. of Pennsylvania Press,
`l988,
`pp62&l3l);
`downloaded
`3/31/08
`at
`2http://books.google.com/books?id=RHBLHrD6snMC&vq=Di
`sability+as+a+Social+Construct&source=gbs_summary_s&cad
`=0; cf full form of citation, “PHILADELPHIA, BALTIMORE,
`
`& WASHINGTON RAILROAD COMPANY, Plff. in Err., V.
`
`THEODORE A. SCHUBERT,” downloaded 3/31/08 at
`http ://bulk.resource.org/courts. gov/c/US/224/224.US.603 .549.ht
`ml, pl of 4;
`texts are reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,”
`pp37—4l]
`
`l6. Claire H. Liachowitz’s uses B ’More as an abbreviation for ‘Baltimore’ in the
`
`references section of her book—noted in citation (a) above. Tom Vincent terms B—m0re
`
`an “abbreviation” in (a) above, a message posted on the American Dialect Society list-
`
`serv, ADS-L (a discussion group devoted to the discussion of issues and facts about
`
`language in the USA, particularly English). Note, however, that Vincent assumes that his
`
`readers will know what he means “B-More” to refer to, and in the context it seems clearly
`
`to be Baltimore. It is not even certain that Vincent means to term B—m0re a mere
`
`abbreviation, in that he uses a hyphen instead of an apostrophe, the usual mark of
`
`punctuation used to indicate that letters have been eliminated from a spelled word. In (b),
`
`the Baltimore Sun does use the apostrophe in writing B ’More, perhaps so that the word
`
`will fit into the space available for the newspaper headline; again, however, the author
`
`clearly expects the Baltimore reader to be familiar with B ’More as a geographical
`
`designator for the city.
`
`ll
`
`

`
`l7. Uses of forms of B—M0re as an abbreviation for the name of the city of
`
`Baltimore are less frequent in the materials that I researched than are full-fledged uses as
`
`a common colloquial designator. Even these putative abbreviational uses, however, all
`
`use B—M0re in toponymic reference to the city of Baltimore—and in no other way.
`
`D. B-More ‘Baltimore’ Plus Additional Positive Connotations
`
`18. The meaning of B—M0re as an informal place-name designator for ‘Baltimore’
`
`is so well established that some uses have arisen that—while based primarily on the
`
`meaning of B—M0re as a place-name signifying ‘Baltimore’—add one or more
`
`simultaneous connotative meanings based on the identity of pronunciation of B ’More and
`
`the positive expression Be more! These punning usages are in some cases long-
`
`established, and they are even used by booster organizations and agencies of the
`
`government of the city of Baltimore as a kind of positive slogan related to civic pride.
`
`19. For example, as early as the mid-l970s, the Baltimore Public Schools were
`
`using B—M0re in the name of one if their curricular offerings. In this usage, B—M0re
`
`clearly projects its primary meaning as a well-known geographical designator meaning
`
`‘Baltimore’, but it also appears to convey the positive connotations of the expression Be
`
`M0re—in this case, in connection with population growth:
`
`a.
`
`“Baltimore is the first major city in the nation to include
`population education in the social studies curricula of its
`schools. Junior high school teachers wishing to do so may now
`use a specially designed population unit,
`B-More or
`Baltimore, [which] traces the historical growth of the city. ...”
`[Melvyn C. Thorne, “Getting Population Education into a
`Public School System: Lessons Learned in Baltimore,” Family
`Planning Perspectives, vol. 7, no. 6, 260; downloaded 3/31/08
`
`12
`
`

`
`the J STOR limited web site, http://www.jstor.org/cgi-
`at
`bin/j stor/printpage/00147354/di975 829/97. . .%252b0%252c1F
`%26conf1g%3 d%26PAGE%3 d0&action=download&config=j st
`or, p1 of 2; texts are reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp42—43]
`
`Thirty years later, the availability of “I V B-MORE” t-shirt designs clearly spins off from
`
`the fame of the geographical designator B-More ‘Baltimore’:
`
`b.
`
`“[headline:] [HEART/HURT] BMORE T-
`shirt [text:] Atomic Pop, 3620 Falls Road,
`(410) 366-1004, www.atomicbooks.com,
`$19.95. [1]] Our hometown is a Violent place-
`-might as well make some Violence-ade
`[sic]. This Balto-boosting tee from Post
`Typography (aka occasional City Paper
`contributor Nolen Strals) takes a few of the
`many things that make this city hard to
`handle and Milton Glaser's classic "I T NY"
`
`design and tweaks them into an expression
`of tough love, complete with ninja throwing
`stars and a slingshot. [Baltimore City Paper,
`11/14/07, p 5 of 11, downloaded 4/11/08 at
`<http://www.citypaper.com/printStory.asp?i
`d=14816>; full text is reproduced below,
`“Exhibit ‘C’,” pp44—54]
`
`
`
`Further, in 2001 a novel, B-More Careful, set in Baltimore, uses a play on words to
`
`associate the locale of the story with the nature of the plot in which the protagonist faces
`
`many dangers:
`
`c. B-More Careful [novel about life in Baltimore by Shannon
`Holmes (Woods, Terri Publishing, 201; downloaded 4/1/08 at
`http://search.bamesandnoble.com/B-More-Careful/Shannon-
`Holmes/e/9780967224916/; reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,”
`p55]
`
`Likewise, the Baltimore civic organization B-More Basics and the non-profit Baltimore
`
`charitable foundation B’More Fund both clearly intend to be understood as using B-More
`
`13
`
`

`
`as a geographical designator, but they also exploit the punning possibilties to very
`
`positive ends.
`
`d. “[headline:] B-More Basics. [text:] For years, there’s been a
`palpable sense that Baltimore is a city on the rise. Beginning
`with the revitalization of the Inner Harbor and continuing with
`the more than $2 billion in development programs taking place
`right now, this town has gotten very serious about staking its
`claim as a great American city. Check the links below to get
`your bearings around town. / Baltimore has so much to offer.
`You’re always running into some restaurant or shop you
`haven’t noticed before. You just have to start exploring. [links:]
`B-MORE BASICS HOME / SEARCH B-MORE BASICS” [web site
`called “Baltimore Collegetown,” downloaded 3/30/08 at
`http://www.baltimorecollegetown.org/asp/activity_main.asp?cat
`egoryID=9, ppl&2 of 2; texts are reproduced below, “Exhibit
`‘C’,” pp56—57]
`“Welcome to the B’MORE Fund Website!
`
`e.
`
`
`
`Leveraging time, talent and resources for a
`better Baltimore. [1]] Congratulations 2007
`B'MORE Fund Awardees! / Georgia King,
`TWIGS Program (Baltimore School for the
`Arts) / Lisa Knickmeyer, Adelante Familia
`/ Aisling McGuckin, The CLEAR Project / Allan and Susan
`Tibbels, Sandtown Habitat for Humanity, New Song Urban /
`Ministries, and New Song Academy [1]] Join the B'MORE
`Fund! [1]] If you were moved to join the B'MORE Fund — either
`by attending the Gala or viewing the videos below — please
`explore how to Become a Member, and email us, call us, or
`mail or fax the Participation Form. / copyright © 200B'MORE
`Fund” / “[Links:] What is the B'MORE Fund? / Fund History/
`Fund Structure / Award Recipients / Read a Letter of Thanks /
`Become a Member / Attend Events / Current Members /
`
`B'MORE Fund in the News ...” [downloaded 3/18/08 at the
`web site http://www.bmorefund.org/, pl of 1;
`texts are
`reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” p58]
`
`Moreover, Madison Smartt Bell’s recent travel book, Charm City.‘ A Walk Through
`
`Baltimore, explicitly notes that B—M0re what people call Baltimore—and that it has great
`
`possibilities as a “functional pun”:
`
`l4
`
`

`
`f.
`
`“My daughter and her friends sometimes call the place ‘B-
`more,’ which might have some value as a functional pun—Be
`More! Or maybe not.” [Madison Smartt Bell, Charm City.‘ A
`Walk through Baltimore (Crown, 2007), p13, downloaded 4/1/08
`at 1http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Charm-City/Madison-
`Smartt-Bell/e/9780307342065/?tabname=custreview, pp1&2 of
`2; texts are reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” p59—61]
`
`Again, the Baltimore city govemment’s Health Department uses B—M0re as a place name
`
`that simultaneously exploits what Bell recognizes as the “functional pun” possibilities,
`
`having adopted B ’More in the B ’More Healthy Campaign and the B ’More Healthy Ten-
`
`Point Plan. In this use, B ’More clearly functions as a place-name meaning ‘Baltimore’,
`
`but it also has the positive connotations of ‘More Healthy’, that is, ‘healthier’:
`
`g. “Baltimore City Health Department / The B’M0re Healthy
`Campaign kicks off in June 2007 with a list of 10 steps
`B’M0re Healthy is a public health initiative that focuses on
`outreach,
`www.baltimorehealth.org/bmorehealthy.html” /
`“Mayor Sheila Dixon Launches B’M0re Healthy Campaign
`Jun 21, 2007
`The B’M0re Healthy Campaign encourages
`city residents to take 10 steps to
`The B’M0re Healthy
`message will be
`spread by distributing more
`www.baltimorecity.gov/news/press/0607/ PRESSRELEASEB
`%20More%20Healthy%20Campaign%20PR.pdf” /
`“Baltimore City Health Department / Baltimore Substance
`Abuse Systems, (410) 637-1900. Blue Suit Weekend - B’M0re
`Healthy, (410) 396-4398. B’M0re Healthy Ten Point Plan,
`(410) 396-4398 www.baltimorehealth.org/contact.html” [web
`site of the City of Baltimore, downloaded 3/30/08 at
`2http://www.baltimorecity.gov/search/?cx=0168563692518173
`25360%3A1wrq1qoz5cy&cof=FORID%3A11&q=B-MORE,
`pp1&2 of 2;
`texts are reproduced below, “Exhibit ‘C’,”
`pp62—63]
`
`Finally, Johns Hopkins University, a distinguished Baltimore institution, University,
`
`makes use of B—M0re in the name of a program designed to acquaint first-year students
`
`with the city of Baltimore. In this usage, B—M0re is a both a toponym meaning
`
`15
`
`

`
`‘Baltimore’ and conveys the positive connotations appropriate to a “personal enrichment
`
`experience”:
`
`
`
`an academic and personal
`h. “B-More is
`enrichment experience offered exclusively for
`members of the freshman class during the last
`week of Intersession. This innovative program
`will give freshmen the opportunity to get to
`know Baltimore and engage in various aspects
`of the city. Students will register in one of five
`morning courses, and participate in afternoon
`co-curricular activities, guest speaker lectures,
`Baltimore labs, and site visits. Evening activities will be
`scheduled throughout the week and include a Best of Baltimore
`Night, and an off-campus event.” [Web site of the Department of
`Student Development and Programing,
`Johns Hopkins
`University,
`p
`l
`of
`I,
`downloaded
`4/2/08
`at
`http://web.jhu.edu/bin/t/w/bmore230.jpg; texts are reproduced
`below, “Exhibit ‘C’,” pp64—65].
`
`20. A pun works well only if both the primary meaning and the secondary
`
`meaning are known and/or apparent. The fact that B—M0re is found in so many different
`
`punning uses is a strong testament to the widespread understanding of B—M0re as a
`
`common geographical indicator for the city of Baltimore.
`
`III. Conclusion
`
`21. In every instance discovered in this research, B—M0re (also spelled B ’More,
`
`BMORE, etc.) has the lexical meaning ‘Baltimore’—that is to say, B—M0re (however
`
`spelled) is a place name, a geographical designator for the city of Baltimore, Maryland.
`
`In a few instances, B—M0re seems to be largely an abbreviation for the full word
`
`Baltimore. In most instances, B—M0re is a slang term used by citizens of Baltimore and
`
`16
`
`

`
`others to designate the city of Baltimore in casual speech and writing. In addition, some
`
`uses of B—M0re as a geographical designator for the city of Baltimore additionally exploit
`
`the connotative potential of the spelling and pronunciation B—M0re (for example, identity
`
`of pronunciation with the positive-sounding phrase Be More). Nike’s use of B—M0re fits
`
`this pattern of use as a geographical designator of the birthplace of the basketball star,
`
`Carmelo Anthony. Nike uses the phrase “B More” as a reminder of the famous person
`
`whose career this particular line of shoes honors, placing the geographical designator in
`
`conjunction with its products, as for example on the bottom of athletic shoes, as depicted
`
`in “Exhibit ‘C’,” p66.
`
`22. Based on the above and attached research,
`
`in my opinion the primary
`
`significance and meaning of B—M0re (and its Variants) to the general public in the United
`
`States (including consumers of apparel items) is as a geographic description of the city of
`
`Baltimore, Maryland.
`
`y ,
`
`Ronald R. Butters, Ph.D.
`
`Emeritus Professor of English and Cultural Anthropology, Duke University
`Durham, North Carolina 27708-0015
`
`June 12, 2008
`
`[date]
`
`17
`
`

`
`ITXHI BIT “A“
`
`

`
`CURRICULUM VITAE
`
`Dr. Ronald R. Butters, PhD
`Professor Emeritus, English and Cultural Anthropology,
`Duke University
`-Former chair, Duke Linguistics Program
`-Former chair, Duke Department of English
`
`-Phone: (919) 423-8866
`-Fax: (919) 287-2616
`-e—mail: RonButters@aol.com
`-web site: http://trademarklinguistics.con1/
`mailing address: 1000 Lamond Avenue
`Durham, NC 27701-2021
`
`June 12, 2008
`
`The University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1958-1962, degree: B.A. with Honors and Highest Distinction in English, June
`1962. Phi Beta Kappa, 1961.
`The University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1962-1967, degree: Ph.D. in English (with concentration in linguistics), August
`1967.
`
`Education
`
`Teaching and Administrative Experience
`1967-1974, Assistant Professor of English, Duke University; 1974-90, Associate Professor of English, Duke
`University; 1990-2007, Professor of English, Duke University; 2000-2007, Professor of Cultural
`Anthropology, Duke University (secondary appointment). As of September 1, 2007, Professor Emeritus, Duke
`University.
`Summer 1986, Visiting Professor of English Linguistics, University of Bamberg, (West) Germany (Fulbright
`award).
`February 1989, Visiting Professor of English Linguistics, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech (Duke in Morocco
`Program).
`September 2005, Visiting Professor, International Summer School in Forensic Linguistic Analysis, Lodz, Poland
`(“Linguistic and Semiotic Evidence in a Death Penalty Case” and “Linguist Issues in American Trademark
`Law”).
`in Forensic Linguistic Analysis,
`International Summer School
`September 2006, Visiting Professor,
`Birmingham, England (“Linguist Issues in American Trademark Law: 2006” and “