So the bully got spanked by his mama!!
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So the bully got spanked by his mama!!
I knew I should have bought a Fuji when I had the chance.
"Uh, guys? Who had this trademark first?" :D
They're not. They own the trademark in the US--the Fuji Roubaix is their equivalent of Cannondale's CAAD series, and they got there firstQuote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
(Former Fuji dealer employee.)
Just read this new development. Love it.
Here's a bike ad posted by a friend of mine this morning on FB. Quite clever.
FREE Epic Stumptown Roubaix Volagi !
Classic and typical Specialized. Fits all arrogant riders between 5'7" to 5'10", with no social conscience or ethics to live by. Special edition cromo touring steel handles comfortably with dismissive behavior. Haven't heard of custom touring steel? It's probably patented. No moral compass required, this bike will take you wherever you want to show your support for bullies. Factory original paint, probably contains lead. Although I wouldn't remove the paint, this could be theft of intellectual property and a breach of contract. It displays very aggressive handling, the best position to ride is on the defensive. You must take action otherwise you may risk losing it. Original headset may need some policing too, most often it will cease and desist. Just to be clear, this is the best bike in the world. A simple trademark search will prevent any confusion of this.
All shipping fees will be paid forward to support: Revelate Designs (Epic Bags), Sugar Wheel Works (Epic Wheel Works), Volagi, Kinesis( Mountain Cycle /Stumptown) and Cafe Roubaix.
It was posted with a photo of an old Specialized frame that he uses for commuting.
omg that's the best. Can you link it in twitter? <veg>
I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, but it seems to me that the root of the problem is "trademark law" - if a name is trademarked and the trademark owner doesn't pursue others using the name (or nearly the same name), don't they then lose the protective rights of the trademark? A lot of the patent and trademark law seems like it rewards firms that hound others who might, even remotely, be infringing on their property, and punishes those who do not protect their intellectual property with a vengeance. I think it reached absurd new heights when Apple, who "patented" rounded corners on their iPad, went after other tablet makers for rounding the corners of their tablets.
I'm also far from an expert on legal matters, but it seems that a licensing agreement is another way of addressing the problem of protecting the trademark, especially when the other user is not really a threat to the trademark holder's business.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hi Ho Silver
Yes - at least as I understand it. I've looked into copyright/trademark stuff for my business.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hi Ho Silver
He who has the most money to throw at lawyers wins. Starbucks, McDonalds....stomping on the little guy.
ASI did what seems to be the right thing and I applaud them.
Looks like Mike Sinyard from Specialized came to the shop and officially apologized.
For those of you on facebook, here is the link.
Yeah , I saw that. The comments are hilarious. I wonder if his legal dept will back off the little guys now.
Glad to see this…..even though the cynical side of me thinks of this as the pr side of Specialized handling the disaster!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvia
More importantly it was good to see the bicycling community build this into the pr disaster for Specialized!!!
Agree with you 100%, seems like a complete OH NO WHAT HAVE WE DONE moment!Quote:
Originally Posted by rebeccaC
Agreed. I still won't buy any more Specialized products.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebeccaC
When it comes time for an upgrade, I have to admit that the Ruby or Amira were very strong contenders for the next road bike. (It was that or the SuperSix). Leaning more strongly to the SuperSix or the Fuji Supreme or Altamira, since ASI has some sort of common sense, apparently.
Uh... unless this is an opportunistic hoax, it would appear not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irulan
http://ridingagainstthegrain.com/201...ess-epix-gear/
that has been withdrawn.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rebecca19804
Here is the latest from Specialized FB page
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater
I am tempted to say that I won't buy specialized anymore based on this, but that would be difficult since it's specialized bikes that feel like they are made perfect for me :(
Specialized is a big sponsor in women's pro cycling. Generally I try to support companies who do that sort of thing. I don't have any of their bikes but I am now less likely to buy any of their other products as a result of this behavior.
Can any of you who still hold a grudge here name any other major company's founder/CEO who has flown out to personally apologize and post "I own it and apologize" to the world of the web?
The owner at Roubaix seems to be OK with understanding and being open to forgiveness.
But apparently that's not good enough for you?
At some point, who is acting like a "jerk" may be shifting.
I've met and talked with Mr. Sinyard. He is a human being and not the monster you would like to make him to be. The environment he gives to his staff to work in is to be envied.
There is simply no way one person can have a finger on EVERY aspect of a company so large. He responded in as human a way as I could imagine.
I suggest you give the man some credit.
How many of you have written off Starbucks? Don't buy Mattel toys? Don't go to McDonalds? (lol that one is easy) These three known trademark bullies don't even make the top ten list.
Apple, Lance Armstrong Foundation and Facebook are in the top 10 of Trademark Bullies according to Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres...merica-2012-3#
Are you ready give up your iPhone and/or Facebook?
Out of all those the only one I use is FB. And no, I won't be giving it up. And no, I won't be buying a Specialized ever either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irulan
What do you think the contents of the conversation about filming the apology were? As I said earlier it can easily be seen as PR rather than just a simple honest apology. I'm sure they felt they needed to make it go away though!Quote:
Originally Posted by Seajay
I'm a very forgiving woman, to a fault at times, but most of the contents of the Volagi lawsuit alone were so ridiculous that it struck a deep cord of injustice with me especially with its predatory financial cost to Mr. Choi and Mr. Forsman. It will take some time to see if Mr. Sinyard and especially the Specialized lawyers have learned anything from this. I think this is more about the lawyers than Sinyard but, if he hasn't already, he needs to have a strong conversation with them about these kinds of lawsuits.
I do hold my nose when buying apple computers but do it anyway. I also support a number of organizations doing work in child labor and women's employment opportunities in developing countries…Specialized doesn't have any products that I need so that's a mute point for me with them.
The future will tell us how genuine Sinyard's apology was.
No Facebook, no Apple, no Mac Donald, Kellog, no Mattel, no Zynga either... Starbucks grudgingly. I prefer local mom and pop coffee house. It isn't too hard to do where I live.
I guess I'm not much of a consumer. oh no Twitter. google not much of a choice there with android phone.
You seem to have a dog in this hunt. I don't. I can only respond to the "bigger company going after the smaller company" one at a time. Right now Specialized has behaved in a way that causes me to not trust them, right now I won't buy their product. They chose their response to a perceived threat, I'll choose my response to their perceived callousness.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seajay
Do I think that Sinyard is personally responsible for any single action by the lawyers that Spec uses? No. Do I think that in large companies, there may be instances where the the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing? Sure. Do I think that companies have the right to protect their trademarks? Yes, but not the extent of the crazy that we've seen lately.
However, what about the suits that Sinyard or the other senior execs didn't choose to stop? The only reason that this one (and the Epix one) wasn't pursued was the blowback on social media and the resultant bad publicity. (And, in the case of Cafe Roubaix, ASI making a statement about it, though I don't know if that would hold up in Canada.) They have a history of bullying behavior on against small businesses that really don't represent a threat to their brand, and aren't really likely to mislead consumers (unless for some reason they had a hard time distinguishing mountain bikes from bags). Is Sinyard's apology genuine? Maybe. Or maybe it's a case of "Sorry, I was a jerk and everyone called me out on it but if no one had I wouldn't be here apologizing." Only time will tell if this really does get their legal department to back off, but until I can see evidence of that, I am not buying a Specialized product.
It's not being a jerk, it's refusing to reward bullying.
I'm glad that Specialized came out and told that story. At the same time, I'm not sure I believe them totally. Especially now, that Xmas is just around the corner, they would not want to lose too much money (gifts) from unhappy customers/cyclists. I tend to think it is more a PR thing too. To try to save the face for those who can buy into it more easily. As said, time will tell how they will treat the smaller ones later on. I think it is a lesson learned with the medias. I think other business, if read/followed that saga, will learn from it too. Medias like Facebook, Twitter, etc. can help you, but also kill you.
As for me, I am on the market to buy road shoes to put my new Keo Classic cleats. I tried a pair of Specialized Ember, which I liked - a lot. For comfort, and mostly for the BOA system. Will I buy them? Nope. Not for now. Other people referred me to Louis Garneau and Lake as they have the BOA system, which I may go try a pair of LG this afternoon.
I just can't think of purchasing Specialized just yet. Stubborn? May be. But I'm fine with this for now. :p
Frankly I was quite unaware of how Specialized had been a bully manufacturer in the past and how they work business-wise.
Of all the bike stuff I have, I might have had a pair gloves from a decade ago...long gone. I just haven't bought anything by them --by coincidence.
I tend to buy cycling gear ...about 30% from national sporting chains (REI, MEC) and the rest from local independent LBS's over the past 20 yrs.