Official Statement from ISOM’s Founder in California
#ISOM #EricJuly #Rippaverse
In the past few days there has been a lot swirling in cyberspace about our (Good Shepherd's) filed (but not served) lawsuit against Eric July and his LLC Rippaverse. Several important things have not been included in those postings. Most importantly, our ministry (Good Shepherd) sincerely wishes that Mr. July had selected some OTHER name for his main character, instead of our trademark ISOM.
We are not sure why he selected ISOM, but if he had selected another name, this situation would not have occurred. Perhaps as importantly, what also has NOT been included in those postings was the letter we sent alongside the lawsuit. In that letter, we said we have no desire to serve the lawsuit and begin litigating, but that instead we are asking them to “Enter into expedited negotiations with Good Shepherd to try to resolve these issues in a discreet and amicable way that respects the objectives and needs of all parties.” Despite our request and invitation to discreetly negotiate, what has transpired in the past few days has been anything but discreet. Some points in this whole matter need to be made clear: •As noted above, we intentionally have NOT “served” our lawsuit, in hopes that the parties can negotiate a reasonable settlement.
•In the past few years Mr. July himself applied to register “Rippaverse” as a Trademark to protect against other people using it. In the same way, and for the same reason, we applied to register ISOM in 2006, and have been using it since as early as 1999. Like Mr. July, we are only trying to protect our ISOM Trademark. Mr. July apparently already has had to defend his Trademark against others using a confusing or conflicting trademark. We should not be criticised for similar actions, taking reasonable steps to defend our trademark ISOM.
•Mr. July has built a very impressive business and we have no desire to damage or destroy it. We do want to eliminate trademark confusion in the marketplace, and we have some practical ideas as to how to do that (which we hope to discuss if he calls us as we requested in our letter).
•As noted above, we would have been a lot happier if Mr. July had chosen another name than ISOM for his superhero. •We have no idea whether the journalist letter sent to us (as mentioned in the lawsuit) was from a nefarious troll or not. It was sent to our intellectual property attorney. This topic is open for discussion if Mr. July communicates with us.
•ISOM stands for the International School of Ministry. We are not a church but a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Our work was birthed while I was doing missions work for two years living with my family in Nigeria.
We work now doing Christian ministry training across the denominational spectrum in 150 countries, including nearly every African nation and most nations of the world. We have worked very diligently and faithfully for nearly 25 years, to develop the deep goodwill associated with our efforts, under our trademark ISOM. Again, we simply wish to protect that goodwill and avoid confusion in the marketplace.
•Please don’t associate us with any political entity or agenda. This matter is strictly about clarifying Trademark boundaries and use. Sincerely, Berin Gilfillan - Good Shepherd and ISOM Founder
