Shoreline protectors run afoul of trademark

GALVESTON — They’ve been called the shoreline’s salvation and the worst thing to happen to beach access since beach houses. But the name that many in the county will no longer be using is geotube.

A Georgia company recently mailed letters to government officials, neighborhood groups and media — including The Galveston County Daily News — advising that “Geotube” was a trademarked name and not a generic term for the giant, sand-filled textile tubes.

Company representatives said they were trying to protect their trademark, not trying to prohibit the outright use of the word. But the letters prompted the state land office and the West Galveston Island Property Owners Association to replace the word in their documents.

Ten Cate Nicolan and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers jointly developed the Geotube in 1991 for use on large government-funded construction projects, according to the company’s Web site. The tubes are used for shoreline protection and in treating sewage and industrial sludge.

Galveston County officials began installing the tubes on Bolivar Peninsula and west Galveston Island after Tropical Storm Francis in 1998. They’ve since spread to protect beachfront parks and condominiums on the island.

Some of the Galveston County tubes were manufactured by a division of Ten Cate Nicolan, the rest by a company called Synthetic Industries, county officials said.

Some have found new snappy terms to use.

“We changed everything in our minutes to sand socks,” said Jerry Mohn, president of the West Galveston Island Property Owners Association. “That’s our new name for it. I think that’s the best way out of it right now.”

For others, what had been a struggle is now a mouthful.

Jim Suydam, the state land office’s press secretary, said GLO years ago began using the terms “geotextile tubes” or “geotextile shoreline protection structures” to avoid any infringement.

Neither rolls off the tongue easily, which may explain why the terms haven’t stuck. Suydam, on further examination of land office documents, said a reminder had been necessary.

“We’ve now issued a memorandum reminding people not to use geotube and to change it in things like the scoping document in Coastal 2020,” Suydam said last week, referring to the office’s plan for responding to beach erosion. “Basically it’s their word and we understand that if they don’t protect it, they’ll lose it, and we respect that.”

Ten Cate Nicolan’s suggestions were just as wordy.

County officials said they were consulting with their attorneys and engineers to decide whether to find another word.

“It’s something we’re going to have to look at, but I don’t see the need to change anything at this point,” said Tesa Duffey-Wrobleski, the county’s emergency management coordinator.

Ten Cate Nicolan representatives said they did not intend to prevent people from using the word geotube. Company lawyers had advised that if geotube became commonly associated with the geotextile bags, the trademark could be lost.

That concern prompted a search over the Internet that revealed thousands of generic references to geotubes, company officials said.

They initially said those writing the word would have to note the trademark in the first reference or a footnote, but later said only those using geotube in a commercial setting would have to note the company’s trademark.

Wayne Bowman, a public relations consultant for the company, said its lawyers may have been overly enthusiastic in their efforts.

“What they were doing was merely protecting their trademark, not trying to prohibit people from calling the product a geotube,” he said.