The Background

Sew Fast/Sew Easy received a federal trademark registration for "Stitch and Bitch Cafe" on July 23, 2002, citing first use and first use in commerce on November 1, 1998.

They have posted the following statement regarding the history of Stitch and Bitch Cafe on their web site:

Stitch & Bitch started before 1997 when students of Sew Fast Sew Easy, Inc. gathered together for Friday Evenings [sic] of sewing, knitting and crochet fun. It was an idea of Elissa Meyrich[,] the creative director of Sew Fast Sew Easy, Inc. In 1998, it became the Stitch & Bitch Café forum and linked to the website Sew Fast Sew Easy, Inc.

Stitch & Bitch Café is a brand name under Sew Fast Sew Easy, Inc[.] and has been trademarked since 2001. No other usage of Stitch & Bitch ever occurred before the first Friday evening gatherings at Sew Fast Sew Easy in it's [sic] first location 147 West 57th Street and Stitch and Bitch Café was one of the first online forums of its kind. We at Sew Fast Sew Easy decided it was time to convert our original trademarked online board into a forum. We also continue to hold our Stitch & Bitch nights at our current address 237 West 35th Street. Those nights are announced to our students and customers. [emphasis mine, grammar errors theirs]

Note that in this statement, they claim first use "before 1997", while on their trademark registration the date of first use is given as November 1, 1998.

Also note that the New York State Department of State lists June 23, 1993 as the date that Elissa Meyrich first filed Sew Fast/Sew Easy as a business corporation. If this means that Sew Fast/Sew Easy was founded in 1993, and that they originated the term "stitch and bitch" as they claim to have done, then there should be no mentions of "stitch and bitch" prior to 1993. However, as of April 7, 2006, there are 18 such references in the database.

Sew Fast/Sew Easy began their legal campaign in May 2005, alleging infringement of their "Stitch and Bitch Cafe" trademark. They sent cease & desist letters to knitting groups nationwide via CafePress and Yahoo!, demanding removal of all items and groups that contained the words "stitch and bitch". Many knitters were angered by their actions and organized a boycott of Sew Fast/Sew Easy's products and an information campaign about Sew Fast/Sew Easy's legal grandstanding and the true history of "stitch and bitch". A detailed timeline of the dispute is available on the Free to Stitch, Free to Bitch: Boycott Sew Fast/Sew Easy web site.