BANDON - The Tillamook County Creamery Association, which purchased the Bandon Cheese Factory in 2000 and stopped production of the cheese at Bandon a year ago, has laid claim to both the name "Bandon's," and "Bandon" as well as a depiction of the Coquille River Lighthouse, as a trademark for its cheese products.

To assert that claim, Kathy Holstad, marketing director for Tillamook Cheese has sent out letters to at least two businesses that use the name Bandon, asking that they change their name to avoid consumer confusion.

And now the Bandon City Council has decided to throw in its two cents. The council voted unanimously at its meeting this week to have staff look further into whether Tillamook Cheese can legally claim the name.

"It was funny at first, but now we're concerned about it," said Carl Lynam, who owns Bandon's Kettle Korn and received a letter from Holstad, informing him that "Bandon" is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The letters have caused an uproar among residents and city officials. First, people were laughing. They joked about changing the town's name to city of "blank." But now few are finding much humor in the situation.

Several e-mailed correspondences between City Manager Matt Winkel and Holstad failed to clear up the issue, so the city hired local attorney Robin Miller to research trademark procedures.

Miller told the council the reason names are registered is to give people notice that a product name is associated with a certain product. It also gives the owner of the trademark leverage to assert that the name not be used in similar associations.

Miller said that trademarks by law can't be applied to geographic locations, so the city of Bandon needn't worry about changing its name. The good news, he added, is Bandon's Cheese is a "weak" trademark and only applies to the goods that Bandon's Cheese is selling, namely cheese products.

Miller suggested that since Tillamook Cheese is aggressively pursuing its claim to the Bandon name, that the city respond in kind. A trademark, once registered, cannot be contested after five years, he added. Tillamook registered the Bandon's Cheese trademark in 2000, so if the city wishes to contest the claim, it should be done soon, Miller advised.

And there may be a loophole. When Tillamook Cheese registered Bandon's Cheese and the Coquille Lighthouse image, it implied that the two have been associated since 1935. The trademark might be invalidated if that can be disproved, Miller said.

But if Tillamook Cheese's claim to the lighthouse in association with the name Bandon is valid, then the city might have to change its logo, which also depicts the lighthouse.

Both the city and affected businesses have said they don't approve of Tillamook Cheese's tactics.

"Just because Tillamook bought property rights of what Bandon has to sell, doesn't give them exclusive rights," Miller said.

Public and private businesses might have a valid lawsuit if Tillamook Cheese forced them to drop the Bandon name and that business could prove their product has nothing to do with cheese, he said.

But it hasn't yet come to that.

"We attempt to strike a balance between the legitimate need to preserve our legal rights in our trademark and the pursuit of what might be perceived to be unreasonable enforcement efforts," Holstad wrote in an e-mail to Winkel.

So where does that leave Bandon?

Since Bandon's cheese isn't made in Bandon anymore, that might be a misnomer the city could argue regarding a geographic trademark, Miller said.

"We should be concerned, even if we don't give a darn about cheese," Miller said. "If you don't police the integrity of our name, you could have a general no-name product. If we let this pass, it might get harder and harder to do something."

Councilor Colleen Cardas said she felt the council should obtain copies of the trademark applications sent in by Tillamook Cheese to see how it justified using the name. In addition, the city should register its name in association with its logo. After those documents are obtained, the city attorney can determine if further action is warranted.

"I think the city manager has given (Tillamook Cheese) ample opportunity to be good neighbors ... and they haven't," Cardas added.

Miller said private businesses using the Bandon name might want to seek a legal opinion on the matter.