Astrocartography Trademark Controversy: The Full Story

In November 2025, an obscure trademark filing sent shockwaves through the global astrology community. Kristine Odegard, a France-based astrologer, successfully registered the word "Astrocartography" as a trademark in France — and is now seeking to extend that registration across the entire European Union.

The move has drawn fierce pushback from astrologers worldwide. The reason is simple: "astrocartography" isn't a brand name. It's a 50-year-old technical term describing a recognised branch of locational astrology. And now one practitioner is claiming she owns it.

What Is Astrocartography?

Astrocartography is a method of locational astrology developed by American astrologer Jim Lewis in the early 1970s. The technique overlays a person's birth chart onto a world map, drawing lines that indicate where each planet was on the horizon, at the midheaven, or at the nadir at the moment of birth.

Lewis coined the term and published his method in 1976. He spent decades promoting and teaching it before his death in 1995. Today, the method is taught in astrology schools worldwide, covered in major textbooks, and practised by thousands of professional astrologers.

It is, by any reasonable standard, a generic descriptive term — like "birth chart," "solar return," or "synastry." You can read the full background in our complete guide to astrocartography.

The Timeline

• July 4, 2025: Kristine Odegard files a trademark application for "Astrocartography" with the French intellectual property office (INPI).
• November 14, 2025: The trademark is officially registered in France.
• Late 2025 – early 2026: Odegard allegedly begins sending cease and desist letters to fellow astrologers who use the term professionally — including, notably, Helena Woods, her own former mentor.
• 2026: An EU-wide expansion application is filed, seeking to claim ownership of the term across all 27 EU member states.
• 2026: The Astrological Association launches a formal petition to invalidate the trademark and block the EU expansion.

Who Is Kristine Odegard?

Kristine Odegard is a France-based astrologer who specialises in locational astrology and astrocartography. She studied under Helena Woods — the same practitioner she has since targeted with cease and desist correspondence. Odegard markets her services as an astrocartography specialist and has built a professional practice around the method.

No public statement from Odegard has fully addressed the community's concerns at the time of writing.

The Cease and Desist Letters

The most inflammatory aspect of the controversy isn't the trademark registration itself — it's how it's allegedly being used. Multiple reports have emerged of professional astrologers receiving legal letters from Odegard's representatives, demanding they stop using the word "astrocartography" in their marketing, course titles, and service descriptions.

Among those allegedly targeted: Helena Woods, Odegard's former teacher and mentor. The optics — a student weaponising a trademark against the teacher who trained her — have amplified the community's outrage considerably. Read the full account of the Helena Woods cease and desist situation here.

Why the Community Says the Trademark Is Invalid

The core legal argument against the trademark is straightforward: "astrocartography" is a generic term, and generic terms cannot be validly trademarked.

The term was coined by Jim Lewis in the 1970s and has been in continuous generic use across the astrological profession for fifty years. It appears in published books, educational curricula, professional association materials, and public discourse — none of which are associated with Kristine Odegard's brand.

Industry professionals argue that the French INPI may have granted the trademark without full awareness of the term's long prior use as a generic descriptor. Read our legal breakdown of why the trademark is contestable.

The Astrological Association Petition

The Astrological Association — one of the oldest and most respected professional bodies in Western astrology — has launched a formal petition calling for:

1. Invalidation of the French trademark registration
2. Blocking of the pending EU-wide expansion
3. Recognition that "astrocartography" is a generic descriptive term in the public domain

The petition is open to anyone — astrologers, students, enthusiasts, and members of the general public. In the context of a trademark opposition, signatures from people who use or encounter the term generically serve as evidence that it's industry vocabulary, not a brand name. You can sign the Astrocartography Petition here. For more on what the petition achieves, read our guide to the petition process.

What Happens If the EU Application Succeeds?

If the trademark is extended across the EU, the consequences could be significant:

• Astrologers in 27 EU countries could face legal exposure for using the word "astrocartography" in their marketing, websites, course titles, and service descriptions
• Astrology schools and educational programmes would need to rename or rebrand existing curriculum
• Publishers and content creators covering the topic could face cease and desist demands
• The term could effectively be removed from public professional use across Europe — even though it was never Odegard's invention

What You Can Do

• Sign the petition: Astrocartography Petition — Astrological Association
• Share this story in your professional community — EU-based astrologers are most directly at risk
• Document your prior use of the term: published articles, course materials, website copy dated before 2025 could be relevant to formal opposition proceedings

The Bigger Picture

Jim Lewis gave astrocartography to the world. Fifty years of collective teaching, practice, and development followed. The community is now asking the legal system to recognise what everyone already knows: this word belongs to no one, and everyone.

We'll continue covering this story as it develops. Next: What Is Astrocartography? A Complete Guide to Locational Astrology.