|
Thursday, March 7, 2024
U.S. Marine Corps Trademark & Licensing Program
Headquarters United States Marine Corps
Public Affairs, Room 4B548
3000 Marine Corps Pentagon
Washington, DC 20350
RE: Blatant violation of the United States Constitution and DoD and USMC trademark and licensing regulations
CEASE and DESIST IMMEDIATELY
To Whom It May Concern:
It has come to the attention of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF, MRFF.org) that a company called “Eagle Crest, Inc.,” which is a USMC-approved licensee for use of the official trademarked USMC emblem on its merchandise, is using the USMC emblem on blatantly sectarian Christian religious challenge coins, in clear violation inter alia of the No Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution as well as of both DoD and USMC trademark and licensing regulations, which strictly prohibit the use of trademarked DoD emblems on items promoting religious beliefs.
One of these Eagle Crest, Inc. coins, which was brought to MRFF’s attention by U.S. Marines at Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan, depicts a Christian crusader knight holding a shield with a large, red Christian cross on it along with the words “PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD” and “OKINAWA JAPAN” on the front and the trademarked Marine Corps eagle, globe, and anchor emblem on the back. The other depicts the same Christian crusader and “PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD” with the addition of the New Testament Bible reference “EPHESIANS 6:13-17” on the front and the USMC emblem on the back with “CAMP FOSTER” below it. (See attached photos.)
These blatantly regulation-violating coins are currently being sold at the military clothing store on Camp Foster, and presumably elsewhere on Camp Foster. As one of MRFF’s 25 U.S. Marine clients on Camp Foster wrote in an e-mail to MRFF: “This is the only location on Camp Foster Marines can purchase uniform items which means there is no avoiding this display of implied government endorsement. I have no doubt these are in other bases as well.”
Of MRFF’s 25 Camp Foster active duty U.S. Marine client-complainants, 16 practice the Christian faith. The other nine include four active duty U.S. Marines who are Muslims, for whom the image of a Christian crusader/warrior in combination with the USMC emblem is particularly hurtful, disturbing, and offensive. Of the remaining five MRFF client-complainants on this matter, two practice the Jewish faith and the others follow non-faith traditions such as atheism, agnosticism, secularism and/or humanism.
Clearly, the USMC’s heretofore continued, unfettered allowance of this wretched, Christian nationalistic usage of its official and trademarked emblem by the for-profit private sector company called “Eagle Crest,” as described herein, constitutes an egregious destruction of, and affront to, the good order, morale, discipline and unit cohesion of U.S. Marines, their families and U. S. Military brothers and sisters in arms everywhere.
It must be stopped! Further, those in the USMC who allowed this illicit, immoral and unethical train wreck to occur in the first place must be publicly and severely punished.
The use of the official, trademarked USMC emblem on these Eagle Crest, Inc. Christian religious products clearly implies an undeniable and incontrovertible endorsement of the Christian religion, in direct violation of the No Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, well-established caselaw, as well as DoD Instruction 5535.12, “DoD Branding and Trademark Licensing Program Implementation,” Section 2.d. of which states (emphasis added):
“In accordance with subpart 2635.702 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (Reference (h)), DoD marks may not be licensed for use in a manner that creates a perception of DoD endorsement of any non-federal entity or its products and services. DoD marks may not be licensed for any purpose intended to promote ideological movements, sociopolitical change, religious beliefs (including non-belief), specific interpretations of morality, or legislative/statutory change. …”
Additionally, the use of the USMC emblem on these religious dog tags violates the USMC’s own “Trademark Licensing Qualification Standards,” section 8 of which lists “Products that contain political or religious activism” under “Categories of Products Not Licensed by USMC.”
When first informed about these illicit Eagle Crest, Inc. coins, MRFF contacted AAFES, and was told in an e-mail from Edwin “Trey” Llewellyn, Deputy General Counsel, Business Law, Army and Air Force Exchange Service that:
“AAFES merchandise is reviewed to determine compliance with prohibitions regarding the sale of items that are illegal, promote the use of drugs or include lewd, profane or vulgar words or symbols. Additionally, our vendors are required to demonstrate proof of the requisite authority to sell merchandise with third-party trademarks or copyrighted material. A review determined Eagle Crest, Inc. received a license from the Marine Corp [sic] to use the Marine Corp’s [sic] Globe, Anchor and Eagle.”
This response from Mr. Llewellyn is completely unacceptable, banal, vacuous, strains credulity, and flies in the face of DoD and USMC trademark and licensing regulations. Surely, the Deputy General Counsel, Business Law, Army and Air Force Exchange Service should be well aware of and familiar with the DoD and military branch regulations regarding the trademarking and licensing of official trademarked DoD emblems and that the use of these emblems on merchandise promoting religion is strictly prohibited. But apparently, Mr. Llewellyn is either woefully ignorant of these unambiguous regulations or is willfully choosing to disregard them.
Mr. Llewellyn’s contention that Eagle Crest, Inc. “received a license from the Marine Corp [sic]” and can, thus, use the USMC emblem on items solely promoting the Christian religion is completely ludicrous, irrational, and unreasonable. Obviously, the prohibitions of the use of the USMC emblem in DoD Instruction 5535.12 and USMC’s “Trademark Licensing Qualification Standards” are not only applicable to but specifically intended for licensees, since it is only licensees that can use the trademarked emblems! DoD Instruction 5535.12 makes this abundantly clear (emphasis added): “DoD marks MAY NOT BE LICENSED for any purpose intended to promote ideological movements, sociopolitical change, religious beliefs …”
To say that having a license to use the USMC emblem means a company can violate the DoD and USMC regulations on how it can and can’t be used is like saying that having a license to drive means you don’t have to obey traffic laws!
In 2019, your office swiftly disallowed the use of the USMC emblem on the Bible verse dog tags and other sectarian Christian religious merchandise sold by Christian jewelry company “Shields of Strength,” which was also licensed to use the USMC emblem, after a similar letter to this one from MRFF. The Army also similarly disallowed the use of its emblem on Shields of Strength’s Army-themed Bible verse dog tags and other religious merchandise.
We anticipate that your office will expeditiously do the right thing again, as not doing so would place you along with your licensee Eagle Crest, Inc. in violation of DoD Instruction 5535.12 and USMC’s “Trademark Licensing Qualification Standards.”
Pursuant to the foregoing, the MRFF demands that the USMC (1) immediately revoke and cancel the current license approval for “Eagle Crest, Inc.” to continue using the official USMC emblem on any and/or all of its religious items for sale; and, (2) immediately investigate and aggressively and visibly punish those personnel either directly or indirectly responsible for granting the approval for “Eagle Crest, Inc.” to use the USMC emblem on these products for sale in the first place.
Please advise soonest of the status of your decision regarding MRFF’s demand to cease and desist in this disgraceful matter of USMC-endorsed, fundamentalist Christian supremacy, exceptionalism, and dominion and domination.
**Please note well: Failure to timely conform and comply with MRFF’s demands herein may result in aggressive enforcement actions to compel compliance, including, but not limited to, comprehensive administrative and litigation complaints lodged against the USMC.
Sincerely,
Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.
Founder and President
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
505-250-7727
CC: General Eric M. Smith, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps
Lt. General James Glynn, Deputy Commandant, Manpower and Reserve Affairs
Major General Stephen Liszewski, Commanding General, Marine Corps Installations, Pacific
The Honorable Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy
The Honorable Kathleen H. Hicks, Deputy Secretary of Defense
Colonel David M. Banning, Commanding Officer, Headquarters and Support Battalion, Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan
| 
