Federal Judge says South Carolina Circuit Court Will Decide Who Really Owns the Names, Property of The Diocese of South Carolina
Lawsuit Claiming Bishop Lawrence Violated Federal Trademark Laws is Dismissed
CHARLESTON, SC, August 23, 2013 – U.S. District Court Judge Weston C. Houck today dismissed a federal trademark lawsuit filed by Episcopal Church Bishop Charles vonRosenberg against Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina Mark Lawrence.
The decision acknowledges the authority of the Circuit Court of South Carolina to decide the rightful owner of the names, symbols and property of the Diocese of South Carolina.
“The sum of all disputes and conflicts arising in the wake of the Diocese’s estrangement from [the Episcopal Church] are more appropriately before, and will more comprehensively be resolved, in South Carolina state court,” stated Judge Houck in the order dismissing Bishop vonRosenberg’s lawsuit and denying his motion for an injunction to prohibit Bishop Lawrence from acting as bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina.
In January, the Diocese and several of its parishes filed a lawsuit asking the state court to issue a declaratory judgment against The Episcopal Church (TEC) to protect the Diocese’s real, personal and intellectual property and that of its parishes.
The Diocese filed the lawsuit after it dissociated from the Episcopal Church when the denomination attempted to remove Bishop Mark Lawrence. Following the Diocese’s decision, 49 churches representing 80 percent of the Diocese’s 30,000 members confirmed their desire to remain with the Diocese of South Carolina, disassociating from the Episcopal Church.
Historically, TEC has taken legal action against parishes and dioceses that disassociate from the denomination, in an effort to seize the local property. As a result, TEC now owns several unused and underutilized churches across the United States.
Soon after the Diocese filed its suit – and in advance of TEC’s announced plan to reorganize its diocese – a South Carolina Circuit judge issued a temporary injunction against TEC and the Episcopal Church in South Carolina (ECSS), the remnant group created following the Diocese’s disassociation from TEC.
The injunction stated that the remnant group may not claim to be the Diocese of South Carolina or use any of its registered names, marks or seal. The lawyers for TEC and ECSS consented to that injunction.
TEC then unsuccessfully attempted to move the matter to federal court, in an apparent effort to find a more supportive legal venue. In June, Judge Houck remanded the case to the South Carolina Circuit Court.
Today’s decision addressed a separate legal action filed against Bishop Lawrence individually. It sets the stage for the entire matter to return to the courtroom of Judge Diane S. Goodstein, who issued the temporary injunction that specifically prohibited all but Bishop Lawrence and his designees from using the Diocese’s names, symbols and property.
“We are extremely gratified that Judge Houck agrees the entire issue should be decided by a South Carolina state court using South Carolina law under which the Diocese and its parishes are incorporated,” said Jim Lewis, Canon to Bishop Lawrence. “We are only sorry that TEC’s legal action has delayed resolution of this matter and served as a distraction from our real mission of ministering to the needs of the faithful.”
