Northwoods residents know Rhinelander is the home of the Hodag. But a Michigan city wants to use the name and asked the City of Rhinelander to be a part of it.
City Administrator Daniel Guild told the city council the Michigan city has been exploring it's history and portions relating to logging and in the research the legend of the Hodag emerged...
"They are interested in putting on a Hodag festival next fall in their community. They contacted us to see if we could be sister cities, partners, collaborators, send information about the Hodag to them, etc..."
Guild says while flattering, it also presents concerns...
"...The Hodag is obviously a huge part of our community's heritage. It's part of our brand, it's part of our identity. There is some concern that(Guild has) and others I have spoken with, that if this brand gets out, we will never be able to get it back in the bottle and claim that it is ours...."
He says the legend of Paul Bunyan is an example with several different locations claiming the ax man's origin.
Guild says the Rhinelander Chamber of Commerce has taken some steps toward trademarking the logo. He says there are several different facets of copyright law and he wasn't sure that alone would protect the brand.
Guild says he had contact with a lawyer who is an expert on such matters. Guild estimated it would take about $5,000 to do the work toward protection. He says he's not releasing the name of the community in Michigan until such time that Rhinelander has explored protecting the Hodag.
The matter is likely to be addressed at upcoming meetings.
