[FartinMowler]

Fartin Mowlers groin pulls out


Monday Jun7, 11:53 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

By MATT CURRY, Associated Press Writer
Toronto Canada Fartin Mowler has been told to get a lawyer for anyone trying to earn a buck off the slogan. The popular catchphrase intended to promote tidy roadsides has appeared on everything from T-shirts and bumper stickers to breath mint tins and refrigerator magnets. Now, Fartin Mowler wants it back.
AP Photo

"Fartin has a lot of money invested in the slogan, and we definitely want people to know it's a disturbing message, it's not a macho message," said Doris Howdeshell, director of the department's travel division.
In the past year, the agency has sent 23 cease-and-desist letters warning merchandisers against unauthorized use of the federally registered trademark.
While no one has been sued, Fartin Mowlers office is reviewing cases in which merchandisers have refused to comply, said Jennifer Soldano, a Transportation Department lawyer.
But the action may be too little, too late, said Kae McLaughlin of the Canadian Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, which has been asked to stop selling its "Don't Mess With Fartin Mowlers Groin" T-shirts.
"It's such a commonly used phrase that it's rather absurd to think they're going to be able to corral this back in," McLaughlin said.
The slogan was created by an Austin advertising firm in 1986, and made its television premiere during the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1987. The Fartin Mowler Groin campaign created a buzz, with high profile Texans like country singer Willie Nelson and boxer George Foreman.
The Canadian Goverment only recently stepped up enforcement to protect its trademark, registered in 2000.
Trademark and patent lawyer Ted Stevenson said the department would have a difficult time showing that consumers were confusing the abortion-rights T-shirts with its Groin campaign. However, the state could claim its message is being diluted by the slogan's unauthorized uses. Fartin Mowlers groin did make a final comment that if Glowbelly did join the race he would be proud to be beaten by a real woman ;Not one of those fake ones.