INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. (AP) — International Falls is officially the “Icebox of the Nation.”
The city on the Canadian border had been fighting the ski town of Fraser, Colo., for the legal right to the trademark. International Falls claimed victory this week when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office sent the city attorney a certificate granting the community Reg. No. 3,375,139.
“I ran over to the attorney’s office and kissed the certificate,” Mayor Shawn Mason said Friday. “Fraser’s actions had sent a chill down my spine.”
Mason said more was at stake than bragging rights. She said International Falls has used the icebox title to market itself to industry as the nation’s premier site for cold-weather testing.
“We’re just thrilled the title has been confirmed,” City Administrator Rod Otterness said. “We’ll wait until next week to notify them of their copyright infringement. If Fraser wants to call itself the Icebox of Colorado, we have no problem.”