Schuette says images of state highway signs public property

LANSING (AP) -- Everyone is entitled to make money selling souvenirs of two notable scenic roadways in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula, according to an opinion from the state attorney general. The opinion issued this week by Attorney General Bill Schuette was requested because two companies tried to trademark the road sign logos for M-22, which runs along Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay, and M-119, known as the "Tunnel of Trees," the Detroit Free Press reported. The logos can't be commandeered for private use, he said. "Because the State of Michigan, the creator of the design, placed the Michigan highway route marker design in the public domain, no entity can lawfully obtain intellectual property protection of the design," Schuette stated. He noted in the opinion that the companies didn't create the design. The businesses involved demanded that other merchants stop using the highway sign logos on advertising and merchandise. The opinion could end such disputes unless challenged in court. "People who travel along M-22 and M-119 associate the signs with the ... region and everything contained within it," Schuette stated. "That association ... encompasses the natural beauties, distinctive shopping and tourism experiences, local foods, and other attractive qualities of the geographic region." Published: Fri, Jun 1, 2012