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OFFICIAL
JOINT-ANNOUNCEMENT
“IBWA-USA” AND
“ABWA”
Despite
of the frequent announcements issued by the Asia Middle East Bottled Water
Association (ABWA) on the prohibition of displaying the logo of the
”International Bottled Water Association-USA” or “IBWA-USA”, our findings show
that some bottled water producers in the Middle East and some countries in Asia
continue displaying the “IBWA-USA” logo on their labels, boxes, products,
violating the USA governmental rule. We can easily pin-point that these bottlers
clearly are non-members of “IBWA-USA” as well as ABWA
as members from both these continental associations know their rules very well.
Because they are non members of both our continental associations, they may be
unaware that they are violating an international rule.
To protect the interest of our good-standing and faithful
members, ABWA hereby issues an official announcement through ABWA’s web-site,
with a copy to all ABWA members in the Middle
East and Asia
of this USA-ruling and its sanctions. If you see non-members in your territory
using the “IBWA-USA” logo unlawfully, we appreciate if you could advise them of
these regulations and its sanctions.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF
VIRGINIA
IN THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA
DECLARATION OF JOSEPH K. DOSS
RE: UNAUTHORIZED USED OF IBWA LOGO
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I, Joseph K. Doss, am currently the
president of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), which is
located at 1700 Diagonal Road,
Suite 650,
Alexandria,
Virginia,
United States of America.
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I have been President of IBWA since September
1999 and, as result, I am familiar with the procedures and policies of the
association.
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I have been informed by the
Asia and Middle East Bottled
Water Association (ABWA) that there are companies selling bottled water in
Asia and the
Middle East
with the IBWA logo on the product label.
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The IBWA logo, which consists of the abbreviation
“IBWA” in the inscription “International Bottled Water Association” inside of a
circle and separated by a curving line, is a federally registered collective
membership mark owned by IBWA (Registration No. 1,917,065) and used by
companies to indicate membership in IBWA. (A depiction of IBWA logo is provided
below).
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IBWA prohibits the use of the IBWA logo on any
label or box containing bottled water products. The policies apply to IBWA
members and any bottled water producers.
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Therefore, any bottled water that includes the
IBWA logo on its label is in violation of the IBWA policy. Moreover,
unauthorized used of the IBWA logo on product labels is contrary to federal
trademark/servicemark laws and could subject the
bottled water producer to legal sanctions.
I declare under penalty of
perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
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