The First Cease and Desist

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The Legal Realities of TRADEmark law.

🏛️ Legal Notice and Protected Expression

This website operates independently to promote civic transparency and community communication within the Birdcage Heights / Edgewood area of Citrus Heights, California. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any homeowners association, property manager, or common-interest development.

All commentary, reports, and publications on this site constitute non-commercial community speech on matters of public concern. Use of the term “Edgewood” is descriptive and geographical, not commercial or proprietary. No homeowners association holds any registered trademark or exclusive right to the name “Edgewood,” and its use here is fully protected under the First Amendment and applicable California law.

The Association’s own officers communicate through personal email accounts (for example, pattiburden@comcast.net) rather than any official “Edgewood HOA” domain. This demonstrates the absence of consistent brand identity or mark in commerce, further confirming that the term “Edgewood” functions only as a descriptive community name, not as a distinctive or proprietary identifier.

In Sapphire Bay Condominiums West v. Simpson (U.S. Dist. Ct. D.V.I. 2008), the court held that an association could not discipline or sue a homeowner for maintaining a watchdog website using the HOA’s name, finding such speech protected civic expression. Similarly, the governing documents of Edgewood Homeowners Association regulate property maintenance and common-area use, not independent commentary or information sharing.

Any attempt to impose fines, “violations,” or legal actions to suppress this site’s content would constitute an unlawful restriction of protected speech and may expose the association to liability under California’s Anti-SLAPP statute (Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16).