As you know, The Trade Banc was recently sued by Tradebank International in federal court in Georgia for alleged trademark infringement.  The lawsuit is without merit, and we are eager to defend ourselves.

As an initial response, the law provides for a motion to dismiss procedure, which we filed yesterday to challenge the very plausibility of the lawsuit.  As spelled out further in our papers, Tradebank International’s alleged mark is not entitled to trademark protection.  Numerous courts around the country have held, as a matter of plain law, that marks with generic names like “trade” and “bank” are not entitled to any trademark protection.  (See Community First Bank v. Community Banks, 360 F. Supp. 2d 716, 725 (D. Md. 2005) (holding that a party’s marks with the words “community” and “bank” “are generic and not protectable, as a matter of law”).

If Tradebank intends to proceed further with this matter, we intend to file countersuit in a more appropriate federal court in Utah seeking declaratory judgment to cancel Tradebank International’s alleged mark.

Tradebank must be made to understand that we intend to defend ourselves vigorously from this unfounded action.  We have already obtained statements from a number of third parties  indicating this is developing pattern of conduct on their part — threatening unfounded litigation as a way of intimidating competitors in the barter industry.  They should be forced to compete with others in a fair and legal manner.

Off the Waffle in Eugene, Oregon is not your typical waffle house. You won’t find pads of butter, bottles of fake maple syrup, or sides of hash browns and eggs here.

The owners, brothers Omer and Dave Orian, are in their mid-twenties and usually sport matching red afros. They and their seven employees serve traditional Belgian Liège waffles made from yeast-leavened batter. They use pearled sugar imported from Belgium, which caramelizes through the waffles, making them crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside.

And if you’re low on cash, Omer and Dave are happy to make a trade, because they’re big fans of bartering.

“When we were in elementary school, Dave would carry with him a little suitcase full of toys in hopes of trading them for cool stuff that other kids had,” says Omer.

Dave says the brothers have traded all kinds of things for waffles, including “acupuncture, massage, plumbing, a trumpet, and art.” And Omer adds that they received yard rakes from one customer.

“We have bartered for things we never would have gotten were we to have to pay cash for them,” Dave says.

This is one you should read in its entirety. Check it out at http://news.yourolivebranch.org/2010/07/21/how-to-share-a-waffle/

But all this took a lot of time and effort.

“A lot of my friends are jealous,” Ortiz says. “A lot of my friends come up to me and tell me, ‘You want to trade my phone for a car? Try to get me a Ferrari.’ I tell them it’s not that easy. It takes time and patience, definitely.”

Steven just got his driver’s license and says he’s looking forward to enjoying the results of all that work.”

See the full story at http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/bizarre&id=7564150

As you walk into The Tuckshop, a sign greets you saying ‘Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture your heart,’ True to the saying, Raina Sahu, who runs the place manages to capture your heart with the love and cheer she spreads liberally. There is a small children’s corner where the kids are kept busy with art and crafts while mothers shop. Another unique thing about this place is that, you can barter! Yes, you heard it right; you can barter for the things that you buy by probably helping her out at the store or by giving something in return.

Explaining this concept, Raina says “I don’t want people to go back disappointed; they shouldn’t feel that they can’t afford it. So I started bartering, and we’re doing great, though people are a little shocked when I tell them that we barter, we’ve done Rs. 20,000 worth barter last month. This concept is very new but it’s definitely catching up,”

She further adds, “I would like to aim at doing 30% of the business for barter and the rest from the sales of the merchandise which is quite reasonably priced.  I get clothes/accessories from all over the country; people love to shop here because of the wide variety,”

Read the full story at http://www.mybangalore.com/article/0710/venture-tuesday-the-tuckshop-reintroducing-barter-system.html

The EU is considering regulations in Settlement Financial Directive 2009/44/EC that if adopted could adversely affect barter exchanges in the EU.

Therefore, IRTA representing the Modern Trade and Barter Industry has requested that the European Union:

1) Exempt trade clearinghouses from any proposed regulations that may regulate financial clearinghouses.

2) Modify the proposed language so as to assure that it is not so broad as to include trade clearinghouses under any regulatory plan that is intended for financial clearinghouses.

As part of this message included below is the full text of the IRTA letter.

IRTA founder Paul Suplizio chaired the committee that created the letter which was then approved unanimously by the IRTA Global Board of Directors and the members of IRTA-Europe. IRTA President David Wallach and IRTA-Europe Chairperson Dorottya Szabo signed the letter on behalf of the Modern Trade and Barter Industry.

For further information email Ron Whitney at ron@irta.com or call IRTA at 757-393-2292 USA or
Skype at ron.d.whitney

Cookie co-owner, Domenico Del Priore, said, “The barter system has proved to be a great success and is helping to offer an alternative and more sustainable way of food production, distribution and consumption. And now we’re extending the system to offer a fruit and veg collection service direct from growers’ own gardens and allotments.

“Whether you grow apples, pears, plums or other fruits in your garden, as these become ripe, we’ll come and pick the fruit from your trees and give you jam back!

“This week our fridge is already groaning with an abundance of gooseberries, blueberries, red berries, zucchini, herbs and a chest of lettuce. From these and other ingredients supplied through our Urban Gardener Barter Food Exchange we’ve made a batch of delicious gooseberry jam, courgette and ginger jam and a variety of soups and grilled vegetable dishes.

“But we’re always on the look-out for more produce. So if you’re interested and would like to participate and help develop an exchange of local food production, we would love to hear from you.”

See the full story at http://www.allmediascotland.com/media_releases/26392/cookie-s-urban-gardener-barter-food-exchange-springs-into-summer-with-launch-of-fruit-and-veg-collection-service