Brief by Allen Best
Mountain Towns – April 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Will Fraser, where a sign in the middle of town proclaims it as “the icebox of the nation,” have to cross-out the “nation” and replace it with “Colorado?”
That’s among the possible outcomes after International Falls, Minn., was given a certification from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for that title.
The dispute dates to the mid-1980s. International Falls had prevailed in claiming use of the title. But Fraser a couple years ago discovered that the Minnesota town had failed to renew its trademark. Fraser jumped in.
Still unclear, at least in Fraser, is whether International Falls has indeed triumphed, says the Sky-Hi Daily News. International Falls has evidence of using the slogan by 1948. So far, Fraser has offered no evidence of similar antiquity.
