BY JIM AUSTIN
COOPERSTOWN CRIER
The village of Cooperstown
and the city of Auburn
have agreed to share
the Doubleday name.
A consent agreement
that would formalize the
name sharing was approved
by the village
board of trustees last
month and ratified by
the Auburn city council
Thursday night.
The village’s historic
baseball diamond has, for
decades, borne the name
of Abner Doubleday, who
was at one time credited
with inventing the game.
The use of the name was
questioned when the village
set out to trademark
the name with an eye toward
creating a logo and
licensing its use to generate
revenue.
Deputy Mayor Jeff Katz
worked with his neighbor
and trademark attorney
Chuck Knull, who
donated his time on the
project, to trademark the
Doubleday name for the
field. According to Katz,
when the village filed the
trademark application,
Auburn balked because
the city had trademarked
the name for its minor
league baseball team.
Katz said Knull indicated
that the village
was on firm footing because
it had been using
the name far longer than
the Auburn team whose
trademark dates to 1996.
If it went into litigation,
he was certain the village
would prevail.
``Chuck told me that
trademarks are granted
based on use,’’ Katz said
Friday.
Knull contacted an attorney
for the Auburn
team and negotiated
the consent agreement
to allow the village and
the city to continue to
use the name. He also
contacted an attorney
with Major League Baseball,
which oversees the
names and logos for minor
league teams, who
also was in agreement
with both entities using
the name.
``The lawyers signed
off because they knew
that when push comes to
shove, we are the rightful
owners of the Doubleday
trademark,’’ Katz said.
``Basically it’s us allowing
them to use the name.’’
During the February
board of trustees meeting,
a motion from Katz
to approve the consent
agreement, seconded by
Trustee Eric Hage, the
chair of the Doubleday
Field committee, was
passed unanimously.
The consent agreement
was forwarded
to Auburn and was approved
unanimously
Thursday by the city
council there.
Auburn Mayor Mike
Quill was not in his office
Friday, but in a story
posted Thursday on the
website of the Auburn
newspaper The Citizen,
City Manager Mark
Palesh said there should
be no problems with the
two parties using the
Doubleday name because
they are for two separate
organizations.
Katz said there has
been some mis-understanding
in the community
concerning Auburn’s
role.
``What was distorted was
that we needed them to
grant us permission. The
truth is, it’s exactly the opposite,’’
he said. ``There
was never a point when
our lawyer said we were
at risk.’’
The agreement with
Auburn should be the
last step in what has
been an almost yearlong
process to trademark the
field name.
``I’m very happy they
voted for the consent
agreement. It is something
that clearly is in
the best interest of both
parties,’’ Katz said.
