Herbs and herbal recipes belong to the people, help protect our herbal traditions in Canada! Say NO to trademark. 

Our goal is simple - Trademark Canada recognize Fire Cider as a Generic term and not an available trademark.  Please sign this petition and share!

Fire Cider is a traditional name for a blend of herbs used by thousands of herbalists worldwide for centuries. The name was coined and copyrighted by Rosemary Gladstar in her books. Trademarking this name is like trademarking the word "pizza".

Read the USA's Victory:

Court Rules Against xxxxxxxx Herbals in ‘Fire Cider’ Trademark Case

A Massachusetts court has ruled “fire cider” is a generic term that cannot be trademarked, potentially ending a years long legal battle between herbal brand owners and tonic maker xxxxxxx Herbals, which claims to have originated and own the term.

The case’s origins stem from a 2012 trademark filing by xxxxxxxx for the name “fire cider,” which it had been using as a brand name for its line of herbal tonics made with ginger, horseradish, onions and apple cider vinegar. The move led to a backlash among herbal tonic makers who claimed that “fire cider” is a generic term that was in use long before being adopted and trademarked by xxxxxx.

In 2014, herbal brand owners — including Farmacy Herbs owner Mary Blue and Herbal Revolution founder and CEO Katheryn Langlier — petitioned to cancel the trademark. The next year, xxxxxx fired back with a trademark infringement lawsuit against Blue, Langlier, and Wildflower School of Botanical Medicine director Nicole Telkes and sought a declaratory judgment to validate its ownership of the Fire Cider name.

For the defendants, the court ruling — which came down last month — is a precedent setting victory. The ruling concluded that “fire cider” is a generic term that had not acquired sufficient association with xxxxxx brand as to be protectable. Speaking with BevNET, Blue said the case could be used to protect other products in the herbal industry from similar attempts to trademark widely used terminology.

“We stood up for ourselves and a company might think twice now,” Blue said. “We will take it to the end and we will protect our terms. We’re not going to sit by and say ‘OK you can have our language.’ It’s more than just sales for us. It’s really about protecting our traditions.”

Read Canada's Ongoing Story:

Trademark laws and restrictions are different across the borders, and this same struggle has been playing out here in Canada.  Unbeknownst to most Canadian Herbalists, where fire cider is also a well known and loved formula, the same company that sought to trademark Fire Cider here, they filed a trademark and were well on their way to securing sole and exclusive use of the name.  After four years in the application process, the trademark status was finally changed to default as of Jan 26, 2020.  But Fire Cider, now more popular and well known than ever, still remains vulnerable in the Trademark Canada database, making it now available for any large corporate interest to claim ownership and trademark. 

In order to prevent fire cider from falling into corporate hands, our small team of herbalists have secured the trademark and placed it in the safe keeping of The Ginkgo Tree.  This is only for the time being.  Working on behalf of the herbal community, we are seeking to keep our traditions and traditional herbal products free from trademark restrictions.  The eventual goal of these efforts is to have the name Fire Cider recognized as a generic term existing in the public domain, free for all to use. Once legally recognized as a generic term, ‘Fire Cider’ will not be able to be owned by an individual or cooperation but will remain in public domain, available for all to make, use and sell as they wish.

We will remain 'All Fired Up' - Penelope Beaudrow