Adventists Sue Uncle Sam Over Trademark

WASHINGTON (CN) – The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists claims the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health violated its “Quit Now” trademark by trying to trademark the anti-smoking materials slogan, which the Adventists have been using since 2005.     The defendants offer anti-smoking material through the phone number 1-800-QUIT-NOW, tried unsuccessfully to register the trademark in 2007, and appealed the patent office’s rejection, claiming that the HHS slogan, “Quit Now, We Can Help You Draw the Line,” was not confusingly similar to the Adventists’ mark.     Pull the other one, the Adventists say. They are represented in Federal Court by Bassam Ibrahim with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney of Alexandria, Va.