Print edition: 
LAWRENCE — A national group made up of veterans who received the Purple Heart medal has asked a federal judge to bar an unaffiliated Kansas nonprofit from using the Purple Heart trademark.
The Military Order of the Purple Heart, which was founded in 1932 and chartered by Congress in 1958, filed a federal lawsuit last week against Tonganoxie-based Purple Heart Veterans Foundation, claiming trademark infringement.
The suit accuses the foundation of using the trademark in a misleading manner, online and in person, to collect donations.
An investigation by the Lawrence Journal-World found that only 11 cents of every $1 donated to the foundation goes to support veterans.
Foundation director Andrew Gruber said the lawsuit will probably force him to dissolve the charity because of its limited financial resources.
Gruber said he wasn't aware of the Military Order of the Purple Heart when he founded his organization in 2009, and he didn't intend to deceive anyone with its soliciting and marketing practices.
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction to prevent the foundation from using the Purple Heart name and registered logos.
The Kansas Attorney General's Office has the authority to file a restraining order against a nonprofit if anyone involved in soliciting funds has been convicted of theft. Gruber spent six months in a Kansas prison after pleading guilty to stealing a rental car and has been paying a fundraising company run by his brother Scott Gruber, who also has a criminal record, the newspaper reported.
