SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Artists looking for inspiration might want to think twice before adopting one of Yellowknife's most historic buildings as their muse.

Nick MacIntosh outside the Wildcat Cafe on July 11 wearing one of $2,000 worth of custom T-shirts he said will have to be handed over to the city, likely for destruction, after receiving legal notice from the city that he had violated their Wildcat Cafe copyright. - Walter Strong/NNSL photo

Yellowknife painter Nick MacIntosh was recently forced to surrender $2,000 worth of T-shirts depicting one of his paintings of the Wildcat Cafe after the city told him he was infringing on its trademark to the 77-year-old log cabin.

With the city's summer tourism season underway, MacIntosh came up with an idea to print one of his well-known pieces - which shows mice sitting at tables and eating cheese inside the Wildcat - on 105 black T-shirts to promote his work.

But on July 8, the city put an end to MacIntosh's plans by serving him with a notice to cease and desist the sale of his merchandise. The notice states that the city has been using the trademark since 1979 and it obtained the legally-registered trademark for the name in 2011.

The move came after a brief disagreement with former Chef Pierre LePage, who attempted to rebrand the legendary eatery as "Le Wildcat" on menus, napkins and T-shirts when he ran the restaurant in 2009.

The city's notice explains that if MacIntosh did not hand over all the shirts "bearing any reference to or depiction of the Wildcat Cafe" to city hall by the following Monday, legal action would be taken against him.

MacIntosh said he was not aware the Wildcat was trademarked by the city when he had the shirts made and agreed to surrender them in order to avoid getting himself into trouble.

"Trademark, I get it, it's off limits. I didn't know, but I know now," he wrote in an e-mail to Yellowknifer, adding the original painting is currently owned by a fellow Yellowknife artist.

MacIntosh said he had a deal in place to sell the T-shirts at the airport and the Northern Frontier Visitor's Centre, but pulled them off the shelves once he received the notice from the city. He said he only sold a total of three shirts before being asked to stop.

Although he will now be nearly $2,000 in the hole, the painter, who also works as a correctional officer at the North Slave Correctional Centre, emphasized that the goal of his venture was to market himself as an artist rather than turn a profit.

"I'm not trying to get into the apparel business. I just wanted to make a print that you could wear on your back. That's why it has my name on it," he said.

Rather than having the T-shirts confiscated by the city to be locked up or destroyed, MacIntosh said he suggested a compromise, whereby the shirts could be given away at a community event such as Ramble and Ride. However, he said, city administration expressed no interest in the idea. Although MacIntosh complied with the city's demands, he said he was taken back by its hardline stance against him.

"When did Yellowknife become so puritanical and bureaucratic?" he asked. "(The city) shouldn't be strong-arming the little guy or crushing the creative community's efforts to make Yellowknife a more interesting place to live.

"My shirts promote the city for god's sake."

MacIntosh pointed out that while the city owns the trademark, the Wildcat is funded with taxpayer's dollars.

"Here's the thing - the city doesn't own it. It belongs to all of us," he told Yellowknifer, referring to the $525,000 the city spent to refurbish the building.

This is not the first time MacIntosh has represented the Wildcat in his work. In 2012, he submitted a painting of the Yellowknife landmark for the city's annual art gala as part of its heritage week celebrations.

That same year, he also donated a painting which included images of both the Wildcat Cafe and the Gold Range Bistro in order to raise money for cancer research through Relay for Life.

"As a local artist, we only have so many marketable icons," he said.

Kerry Penney, director of corporate services, said this is the first time the city has enforced its trademark.

On top of the painting, the shirt includes the words "The Wildcat Cafe" scrawled under the neckline, as well as the slogan "The Wildcat, where you don't mouse around," printed on its back.

Penney said she could not discuss what elements of the shirt specifically violated the city's trademark.

When asked whether other artist's representations of the Wildcat would be subject to the city's protection of its trademark, Penney said it would depend on how the image were presented.

"If you have a picture of an airplane, it won't infringe on anyone's trademark but if you start putting details in there, you do," she said.

Penney said anyone who wants to depict the popular restaurant should contact the city to get permission beforehand.

"The city wants to ensure that anything that is associated with the city received prior approval," she said.

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