Given how the S-Company-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named backs its composite-based frames I'm pretty sure the photographers would have no issues.

Then again, I should watch what I say. I really don't want that S-guy-who-also-must-not-be-named to sic his staff of highly-trained/paid attorneys on me.

I am already on the bandwagon. I executed my first non-purchase of a Specialized product and purchased another brand instead.

Way ahead of of you: I've been not buying Specialized products for 47 years.

I'm not going to buy anything by Specialized ever again.
Wait…I never have.

Never will.

And now, I really won't.

That may be true but people react emotionally to stories like this and if this one ever hit the mainstream media people would react to the Veteran and PTSD angles and I think Specialized would back right off. P.T. Barnum was wrong...there is such a thing as bad publicity.

I guess if it works on America's Got Talent it can work on Canada's Got Trademark Law.

[h=3]From Bike Snob New York: Motivation and Litigation: The American Way[/h]


...worth reading in this context, although inspired by the Volagi case. Thank you Wildcat Rock machine.:D

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/...lized-1_203443

Money quote -
"In a big victory for Volagi, the judge threw out that claim, leaving Choi’s and Forsman’s ownership of the intellectual property undisputed in their disc-brake-equipped carbon road bike with suspension features. In total, eight of Specialized’s nine claims were thrown out, leaving only the breach of contract claim to be decided by the jury, and it found a breach only in the case of Choi, not Forsman."

Award was $1.00. Mike Sinyard can now shop the Dollar Menu at McDonald's.

...I think I'll buy some CF Specialized bike off CL and burn it in effigy. Then I'll tell people it assploded.

"This just in" as Ted Baxter used to say
http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/...e-brand_310878

Gee, I was riding Clement Paris Roubaix tires before Mike Sinyard was selling imported components out of the back of his car. I'm guessing that this was also quite a while before Fuji used the name. Does this precedent mean nothing in the world of trademarks?

If place names can be trademarked by persons having nothing to do with those places can corporate and personal names also be trademarked in a similar manner? Can I open a Specialized Bicycles Adult Bookstore or a Lance Armstrong Noodle House and trademark the name since I am not in the same business as the other Specialized Bicycles and the other Lance Armstrong?

Brent

...no way I am eating in a Lance Armstrong Noodle House. How can I trust you on the ingredients ?

No, you couldn't. Now you could open a Specialized Adult Bookstore or an Armstrong Noodle House, but you can't specifically call out another brand like that or use a celebrity's name without endorsement.

It's like a creepy neighbor.

Legally, they're in the right - but under no circumstances do you let your kids near him.

Kind of how I'm feeling about brand "s" at this moment.

I see you didn't read the whole thread.

LOL! No I didnt. Sorry.
But once I read the article, I actually side with Spec. They have the name Trademarked.
You cant just break a trademark regardless of why or who or where.
Rules are rules. Change your name, or pay the penalty.

And this coming from a Gulf War Vet.

There we go. Specialized or Fuji or anybody else should never have been granted a trademark on this word which has been in the vocabulary of the bicycle world for over a hundred years. I don't even think Fuji or Specialized should've been granted the trademark on their own brand name given how common those words are.

In other news - The Disney Corporation is suing Specialized for presenting itself as a "Mickey Mouse operation".

In a related story, DiabloScott today announced that he is suing the makers of the Lamborghini Diablo, the publishers of Diablo Magazine, and everyone who lives in teh Diablo Valley for misappropriation of his name, breach of privacy, copyright infringement, copywrong infringement, intentional infiction of severe emotional distress, and for kidnapping the Lindbergh baby.

Film at 11:00.

Well, could I use my own given name as the name of a business if it was the same as a certain celebrity's name?

Now that right there is funny!

It would be nice to see the town of Roubaix (or the owners of the race?) go after Specialized. Pretty clear that S is profiting off of their good name.

Ditto for the Olympics / Olympia.

.
.
....just so everyone has notice, I have now trademarked the term "asswipe" tm.

So anybody here who wants to call me one in the future owes me a dollar. And my attorney is a shark.

Maybe Canada should review trademark law. It doesn't seem fair.

I cannot remember buying a Specialized product, but I probably have purchased some of their tubes and tires over the years. I know that I won't until they come to a reasonable settlement with this guy.

The trademark application states: "First, there is insufficient evidence to show that the public would make a goods/place association between Roubaix, France, and bicycles. Second, it is unlikely that a significant number of the American population would know that Roubaix, France, is the location of a well-known annual bike race. Thirdly, applicant's use of the mark is used in an arbitrary and fanciful manner and is not meant to connote geographical location."

While the average American may not know about the Hell of the North and its long history, the average person willing to spend $3k+ on a race bike certainly does. And to say it's a fanciful use not meant to connote a geographical location is difficult to accept.

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5d045ba7.jpg

(Source for image above: Comments section of Specialized Facebook page.)

Hey!, I got first dibs on "assclown"....OK!:D