Trademarking KRAV MAGA

So much controversy has arisen over the trademark of the term krav maga in Canada and the attempted trademark of the term krav maga in the United States and in other countries around the world by attorney Darren Levine and Krav Maga Worldwide, that we have asked Krav Maga Worldwide to comment on and answer questions that have arisen during this controversy. Below are our questions for Krav Maga Worldwide and Krav Maga Worldwide or any other oranizationa that wishes to trademark the term krav maga.

USADOJO.COM: Did you serve in the Israeli army or as an official krav maga instructor in the Israeli army? Did you serve with the Israeli police as an official instructor? Have you served with a counter terror unit or have you served with VIP protection in Israel or have you ever instructed as an official in Israel?

USADOJO.COM: Your "licensed" Krav Maga Instructors pay you $500.00 a month to use the term krav maga, to use your logo and the "official" seal. Is this correct? As far as we know, your previous attempts to trademark krav maga in the United States have been rejected (see info below). How then can you sue other martial arts instructors for using the term or force them to pay monthly fees to you for use of the term krav maga?

"(View Entire Document) . . . Evidently, the Krav Maga Association of America headed by Darren Levine applied to formally trademark the name krav maga in July of 1999 with the United State Patent and Tradmark Office (USPTO). In December 2001, registration was rejected and a final refusal was mailed. In other words, the name krav maga is not currently registered to anyone or any organzation in the United States. The Krav Maga Association of America has been appealing the USPTO rejection since 2002 arguing they are the only source of krav maga in the United States -- which we know is not true."

Here is some of the actual langauge from one of the USPTO’s Office Actions for the mark, krav maga, taken from documents compiled by Thomson & Thomson research services:

• “The examing attorney refused registration on the Principal Register because the proposed mark is merely descriptive of the indentified goods. Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. Section 1052(e)(1); TMEP section 1209 et seq. Moreover, the proposed mark appears to be generic as applied to the goods and, therefore, incapable of identifying the applicant’s goods and distinquishing them from others”
• “It is well established that the foreign equivalent of a merely descriptive English word is not registrable. It is merely too descriptive”
• “Krav maga appears to be generically descriptive of a form or class of martial arts or self defense techniques . . . the mark cannot be registered on the Principal Register or Supplemental Register. . . . The applicant’s claim of acquired distintiveness is considered insufficient”
• “An internet search further illustrates the generic descriptiveness of the term as applied to martial art defense techniques and related training goods.”
• “Also it appears several competitors use the term generically.”
• “It is well established that terms which describe the most important or central characteristics of the goods or services, should be and have been held to be legally generic.

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: In the last 46 years the Department of the Hand to Hand has no longer been administered by Imi Lichtenfeld and the training with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has changed and developed as Imi wished it to. You claim to teach what the IDF teaches and yet you have never in the past and you are not currently training with the IDF. Therefore what you teach is not what the current IDF teaches. Are we correct in assuming this?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: It is our understanding that Mr. Lichtenfeld was never part of the Israeli police force or part of training the Israeli police force, yet we’ve heard the claim that he was the only person who contributed to the development of krav maga? Are you saying that after Mr. Lichtenfeld retired in 1963 no one continued to teach and develop the art of krav maga for military, police and civilian use?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: In a recent filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, you attempted to convince the Examining Attorney that you deserves to register and own the name krav maga in the United States.

You stated that your position as deputy district attorney "has allowed me to develop and modify the krav maga system to make it more applicable to self-defense. Although based upon the Israeli self-defense system, the system I have developed and marketed under the trademark and servicemark krav maga is a unique training program based on my personal knowledge . . ."

Yet, you advertise on your website that "Krav Maga is the Official Self Defense System of the Israeli Defense Forces." You could not have developed its "unique" self-defense training but still teach the official self-defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces.

Krav Maga Worldwide, which is it, a unique training program based on your personal knowledge or the system Imi developed? How can you sue people using the excuse that they are not teaching Imi's sytem when you say in the papers you are using to trademark the term Krav Maga that you yourself are not teaching Imi's system?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: On your Krav Maga website it says: "Krav Maga is the official self defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces . . . " It follows then that anyone who is or was an official self defense/Krav Maga instructor in the IDF has the right to be an official Krav Maga instructor now? Do they have this right? If your American organization is the only one that decides what is Krav Maga and what isn't, then obviously they also decide for the IDF. Is this right? Is Imi's system (Imi left from the Israeli army in 1963) as the Krav Maga Association of Amercian teaches it, still the "official self defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces"? If it isn't, how can you say that it is. Wouldn't this be considered false advertising on the part of Krav Maga Worldwide Enterprises?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: Krav Maga Worldwide, you have stated that krav maga was unfamiliar to Americans before you introduced krav maga in the United States. How did you hear about krav maga?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: Do you agree that there is a military and a civilian krav maga as well as a different krav maga taught to police and special forces and that you were not integral in the development of any of these forms of krav maga. Your declaration to the trademark offices said that you upgraded the system for the US market. If you yourself changed the system, how can you continue to call it krav maga and expect to trademark it as the only legitimate krav maga?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: What system of krav maga do you teach?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: Are you taking credit for the martial art of krav maga as it stands today?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: The trade mark office in Israel denied the trademark for the term krav maga, having determined that the term is generic in its use in Israel. If krav maga is a generic term in Israeli and considered an Israeli martial art why do you feel that you alone have the right to trademark the term? Are you “more official” than others who were and are integral in creating the martial art of krav maga and who served and continue to serve and who taught and continue to teach krav maga in the Israeli military, with the Israeli police and with counter-terror units in Israel?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: Is there financial considerations in owning the krav maga trademark? Is krav maga a martial art or a business arrangement?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: You have an organization called Krav Maga Worldwide Enterprises. Are you aware that in Israel there are many krav maga organizations and this is also true in Europe, in the United States and elsewhere in the world? How does your trademark affect them?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: We have heard of the numerous law suits you have served against qualified krav maga instructors in the United States and in Canada, instructors such as Moni Aizik who has been teaching Krav Maga since the early 1970's. Can you tell us more about these suits and why you are bringing them?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: We know that your California Corporation Krav Maga Association of America, Inc., 6900 Canby Ave. Suite 105 Reseda California, 91335 has filed for a trademarks (word marks) for the term KRAV MAGA and "KRAV MAGA CONTACT COMBAT" in the United States. (See Below) Where will this leave all the other krav maga instructors who have been teaching and who now teach and sell those items in the United States. Will you sue them as you are suing the martial arts instructors in Canada?

75746348 IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: Footwear and apparel, namely, shirts, tank tops, jackets, pants, shorts, hats, shoes, sport bras, belts, sweat bands, unitards and leotards. FIRST USE: 19810000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19850000

75746347 IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Prerecorded instructional videotapes featuring self defense instruction. FIRST USE: 19891020. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19891020

75745901 IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: SERIES OF BOOKS AND INSTRUCTION MANUALS IN THE FIELD OF SELF-DEFENSE, PHYSICAL FITNESS, LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT. FIRST USE: 19850800. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19850800

75744948 IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Educational and entertainment services, namely, instruction in self defense and physical fitness. FIRST USE: 19810000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19850000

75493869 IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Educational and entertainment services, namely, instruction in self defense and physical fitness. FIRST USE: 19810000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19850000

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: The THE ISRAELI KRAV MAGA ASSOCIATON has exclusive rights to their logo by Israeli trademark and they protested your trademark of the their logo here in the United States but were underfunded to fight the battle. This is Imi's organization in Israel. Why would you want to go against this organization?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: Are you also attempting to get trademarks in Japan and China?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: How is it that krav maga has more 10 dan’s than any other martial art system? Dan is a Japanese martial arts rank not found in the Israeli army or police. Why have you chosen to rank yourself and others with the Japanese system? Who awarded you your 10 dan? Can you tell me about Gabi Noch, 10 dan, Chaim Zut, 10 dan, Rhon Mizrachi, David Kahn and Dror Saporta?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: Since the Israeli police and military do not give belts to persons training in krav maga, it appears that this is another difference between the system that teaches civilians and the system taught to Israeli army personnel and the Israel police. Do you agree?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: We have obtained a certificate which contains your logo and signature dated in the year 2004 that also has Imi Lichtenfeld's signature on it. Can you tell us about the certificate? Have you been given the legal right to sign Imi Lichtenfeld's name? ( View Certificate)

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.

USADOJO.COM: Are you a black belt in any other martial art system other than krav maga? How many years did you study martial arts before you began to study krav maga? What did you study and with whom?

Krav Maga Worldwide: No response.