Shlachter, Perotin, Fuquay & Co.: An idea that deserves to catch on

Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth has an offer for patients who get grumpy after cooling their heels too long in a doctor’s waiting room.

The hospital is promoting a 15-minute guarantee for users of its outpatient imaging services: If your exam doesn’t begin within 15 minutes of the scheduled appointment time, you get a $25 gift card to either Pappasito’s Cantina or Starbucks.

The deal applies at three locations: a Baylor imaging center on Rosedale Avenue; the downtown hospital on Eighth Avenue; and Baylor Medical Center at Southwest Fort Worth, on Oakmont Boulevard.

Imaging services include X-rays, bone density tests, and CT, MRI, and ultrasound scans.

It’s a real word. Honest.

Is Fort Worth writer Hollace Weiner guilty of genericide?

The lawyer for the Association of Junior Leagues International asserts that Weiner’s latest book, Jewish "Junior League": The Rise and Demise of the Fort Worth Council of Jewish Women (Texas A&M University Press) will probably cause confusion over the relationship between the defunct Jewish group and the Junior League.

In other words, said lawyer James Meyer, Weiner is engaging in "genericide" — taking a protected trademark and promoting its use in a generic sense.

It’s a real word. Look it up.

Told of the genericide charge, Weiner was taken aback.

"That sounds terrible," said Weiner, a former Star-Telegram reporter. "It sounds like a crime for which I would be hauled before the World Court."

Weiner explained that the book was a version of her master’s thesis and that A&M Press added the quotation marks to the title.

The book chronicles a group of Fort Worth women who launched a local affiliate of the National Council of Jewish Women at the turn of the last century. Weiner writes that it "seemed to be the Jewish equivalent of the Junior League, a prestigious women’s organization that performed social service and conferred social status." But the local Jewish group failed to keep up with the times and disbanded in 2002, 101 years after its founding.

Weiner declined to address the genericide allegation, referring us to A&M’s attorney, whose office in turn referred us to an A&M spokesman who said the university has yet to respond to the association’s complaint.

Next we contacted the Association of Junior Leagues’ New York-based marketing chief, Barbara Taylor, who told us that the group did allow another book, The Devil and the Junior League, to slide.

No warning. No scary letter from a Philadelphia lawyer. Nada.

"But that was a work of fiction about a fictional 'Junior League,’ while Ms. Weiner’s book is nonfiction," said Taylor, a transplanted Texan and a Highland Park High School grad.

Asked whether the quotation marks in Weiner’s title, Jewish "Junior League," might just tip off readers that the book concerned something akin to, yet distinct from her organization, Taylor would respond only by indicating such use still wasn’t kosher.

Moreover, she complained that Amazon.com was listing the book sans quotation marks.

Then we decided to consult a neutral expert, professor Megan Carpenter at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law.

Her gut tells her that Weiner has a strong defense. Carpenter, who teaches intellectual property law and has written numerous cease-and-desist letters as an attorney, went on to say that the Junior League’s action was expected. In fact, by not aggressively protecting one’s trademark, a famous brand could lose it.

But Carpenter likened its case to an ill-fated one the singing group, New Kids on the Block, once filed against USA Today.

The boy band alleged unauthorized use of its trademark when readers were asked, under a photo of the band, "Who’s the best on the block?" The 95 cent charges to a 900 number would be denoted to a charity.

USA Today argued, and a federal appeals court in 1992 agreed, that it couldn’t describe the New Kids without using the group’s name.

In Weiner’s case, she is talking about a Jewish organization "equivalent" to the Junior League, Carpenter said.

"What should the author have titled her book?" Carpenter asked. "The Jewish Equivalent of the Very Famous Organization of Charitable Women that is Exclusive?"

Stay tuned.

These boots are made . . .

One young lady does a backward flip in her Justin Gypsy Cowgirl boots. Another uses her boot as a flower vase.

They’re in some of the videos floating around on YouTube that contestants recently sent from around the country.

The Fort Worth-based Justin Boot Company recently picked five women to serve as spokeswomen for a new national advertising campaign promoting its new line of fashionable boots aimed at women ages 17 to 28.

Justin started selling the first of its Gypsy Cowgirl line in September and it’s already up to 25 styles, quite a few splashed with at least a little pink.

The boots are priced from $79 to $99.

Over those 10 months, the style has apparently caught fire — accounting for about 5 percent of total Western boot revenue at Justin, said Louis Russo, brand manager. He declined to give the company’s total revenue.

Shortly after putting the boots on the market, Justin rolled out a contest asking women to submit a commercial explaining why they should be the next Gypsy Cowgirl.

The company, which based the image on an archived logo it found from the 1940s, said a Gypsy Cowgirl is "a rogue, rebellious, authentic, self-reliant young lady with a lot of self-confidence."

Russo told reporter David Wethe that he was surprised to get roughly 100 video entries from across the country.

"I would have thought it would have mainly been focused in the West," he said. "It was amazing that they would take that much time and effort to become part of this."

Five women were selected and brought to Fort Worth a few weeks ago. After dining at Joe T. Garcia’s, the winners went for a photo shoot in their boots to Rocky Top Ranch. The boot company also brought in local contestants for the shoot, which made for a mix of "the real authentic horse person" and simply "kids who like the look," Russo said.

"It would have been real easy to hire models," he said. "You could really tell these ladies wanted to be part of the Justin brand."

Another firm joins fray

Holt Lunsford Commercial, a full-service real estate firm based in Addison, has joined the growing commercial real estate market in Fort Worth, Sandra Baker reports.

The company, founded in 1993, has picked up two assignments in Fort Worth since it opened an office in January in University Center, 1300 S. University Drive. It is handling leasing for One Ridgmar Centre, 6500 West Freeway, a 180,000-square-foot office building, and a 281,200-square-foot industrial building at 6901-6909 Snowden Road in the Carter Distribution Center.

Holt Lunsford handles development, leasing, property management, and investments in the office, industrial and retail sectors. It also has offices in Houston and Little Rock. It said it manages 32 million square feet of space, 24 million square feet of that in the Metroplex.

In the next 60 days, the firm will move into offices in the Mallick Tower, 101 Summit Ave., near downtown. Matt Carthey will serve as the office’s managing partner. Geoff Shelton recently joined the firm in the Fort Worth office from Dal-Worth Management & Realty.

Carthey called the Fort Worth and Tarrant County markets dynamic, and said that the firm "wanted to make a commitment to Fort Worth."