Re: Apartment Sharing Developer attempts to co-opt cohousing Name
From: Gordon Walker (gwalker1947gmail.com)
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2017 08:01:52 -0800 (PST)
Though we are just getting ready to break ground on a senior cohousing
community in Virginia, Buck Creek Village, I do like the suggestion for an
association, made by Dick Margulis. It certainly has appeal for those of us
in the nascent stage of development. Gordon

On Thu, Nov 30, 2017 at 10:51 AM, Dick Margulis <dick [at] dmargulis.com> wrote:

> On 11/30/2017 9:59 AM, Fred-List manager wrote:
>
>> I am respectfully asking Charles Durrett and the cohousing community
>> to take control of the name ( cohousing ) and stop developers who are
>> usurping its name and meaning.
>>
>
> That ship has sailed, basically. I don't think that, at this late date,
> the word cohousing can be trademarked or otherwise protected. However,
> there are models that other industries have adopted that we could
> brainstorm around. Here are three I can think of:
>
> 1. Realtor is a made-up word that is a registered trademark. The generic
> term is real estate agent, not all of whom can say they are a Realtor.
>
> 2. USDA Certified Organic, with the power of federal government behind it,
> has supplanted the unregulated use of "organically grown."
>
> 3. Association seals (in general--and I think this might be the easiest to
> implement in our case): An entity qualifies for membership in an
> association based on clear criteria, joins an association and pays dues,
> and by virtue of that is allowed to display a seal or badge. You see this
> all over the place, and some seals don't mean a lot (because all they care
> about is that your check clears). But for organizations that are serious
> about their purpose, this seems to work pretty well.
>
> Now that I think about it, this can kill two birds with one stone (figure
> of speech--no birds will be harmed). It can help with the Coho USA budget
> at the same time it addresses the issue of poseurs.
>
> Dick Margulis
> Rocky Corner cohousing
> Bethany CT
> (closing imminently on our construction financing)
>
>
>
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