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"The de la Torre Bueno Prize": The late Jose Rollins de la Torre Bueno was a dance publishing editor. He was one of the founders of the defendant, which was created to promote and develop research and publication in the field of dance.
When he retired, "The de la Torre Bueno Prize" was established in 1972 in his honor and awarded annually by defendant to an author of a work of scholarship in dance.
His daughter Mary was on defendant's board. She was asked to resign after expressing dissatisfaction with how the prize named after her late father was being administered. In response, her counsel demanded that defendant cease using her family name for the prize.
Defendant agreed to her request to stop using her family name.
Mary then authorized another group, the Society of Dance History Scholars ("SDHS"), to administer "The de la Torre Bueno Prize" in the future.
Defendant does about face: It filed an application with the Patent and Trademark Office to register "The Jose Rollins de la Torre Bueno Prize in Dance Literature" as a service mark, and demanded that SDHS cease from using the name "The de la Torre Bueno Prize."
Eyes on the prize: Mary and her sister sued the defendant to prevent it from using their surname or their late father's name for defendant's prize. Both sides made cross-motions for preliminary injunction to prevent the other from using their respective prize names.
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