AP Reports No Trial Date Set Yet for Lizzie Borden

Just up on the wires:

Judge won’t issue ban in Lizzie Borden trademark dispute
5:24 PM Thu, Sep 25, 2008 | Permalink
By Mike McKinney Email this author | Email this entry
BOSTON — A federal judge declined today to temporarily ban a Salem business from using a name similar to one trademarked by the owner of the home where Lizzie Borden allegedly used a hatchet to kill her wealthy father and stepmother more than a century ago.

Donald Woods of the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River, which is run out of the home, said a new museum and gift shop in nearby Salem has ignored repeated warnings that its name infringes on his “Lizzie Borden Museum” trademark.

Woods filed a lawsuit last month and asked for a temporary injunction against Leonard Pickel, who owns The True Story of the Lizzie Borden Gift Shop and Museum. The Salem business owns the domain name http://www.lizziebordenmuseum.com and an e-mail address with a similar name, [email protected].

U.S. District Court Judge William Young ordered the two sides today to prepare for trial and said he may rule later on Wood’s plea for a temporary injunction. He did not immediately set a trial date.

Wood argues the new store could cause confusion over ties with his company and could harm the reputation his business has fought to cultivate over several years. But Pickel said Woods hasn’t marketed his bed and breakfast as a museum – effectively abandoning the trademark.

Pickel’s attorney, Douglas Otto, argues that Woods’ business is more likely to be confused with the Fall River Historical Society — a nonprofit that maintains the largest collection of artifacts relating to Borden’s life and trial and is located a short distance from the bed and breakfast.

Borden was acquitted of the 1892 slayings but was widely believed to be guilty. No one else was ever charged with the crime.

— The Associated Press

I read the court report as saying the trial is Monday. Perhaps it is, but I will check with the parties involved and let you all know one way or the other soon.