ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230050
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LAKELAND, FLA.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
To O.J. Simpson, his initials stand for Orenthal James; to Florida citrus officials, they mean orange juice.
An agreement has been reached allowing both camps to keep using the coveted letters.
Simpson tried to trademark his initials in mid-1994 soon after the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
The Florida Department of Citrus, which has been using O.J. since 1964, went to court to make sure it could continue using the initials to market the state's No. 1 product.
``We wanted to protect our interest,'' Department of Citrus spokeswoman Ivy Leventhal said Thursday.
In the consent decree, both sides said they could use the ``O.J.'' logo without impinging on the other. The document was signed last month.
It says Simpson is free to use ``O.J.'' to market any products or services that have nothing to do with oranges, orange juice or orange juice products, and Florida's citrus industry has the right to advertise, promote and market orange juice and its products.
``The parties believe that there is no likelihood of confusion or conflict between the two marks,'' the decree states.
``We understood Mr. Simpson had filed for trademark for a number of categories. We wanted to be sure that orange juice was not one of those categories. And it was not,'' Leventhal said.
LENGTH: Short : 37 linesby CNB