Specialized Faux-Pas

[jdtate101]

You'd have to have been living under a rock not to know of what I mean, but for those who dont:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013...ase-is-unnecessary-to-defend-the-brand_310878

What's more interesting is the backlash present on the Big S facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/specializedbicycles?fref=ts


Discuss...........................

Personally I think this is a PR disaster, and specialized needs to come out and say sorry for being such an ass.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

The question is not as simple as you suggest. Specialized have a legal obligation to pursue people who infringe their trade mark and failure to do so means they could lose the trade mark and and may possibly be handed a fine.
So your question imho should be "should specialized give up a trademark for bikes and bike components which earns them thousands of dollars each year from licencing from fujii bikes and accept a fine because someone could not be bothered to check trademarks"

It's amazing that no reports of this actually shows or documents the complaint from specialized, could the problem be not the name of the store but the fact he is releasing components under the Roubaix name. No mention has been made of the deal made with fujii bikes which permits them to use the roubaix name on bikes and bike components, or that specialized have offered others trademark licence deals to ensure they are within the law.

I have no doubt a lot of people commenting have not checked what the trademark covers and what the complaint actually states, they just see big guy picking on the small guy.

One man's social media karma is another mans social media lynchmob imho

 

[jdtate101]

IMHO they shouldn't have been able to Trademark such as widely used term in the cycling world in the first place, but that's another discussion entirely.

 

[vickster]

Maybe they should relinquish it and just overcharge even more for their stuff instead

Have Specialized actually responded at all to the hoo-ha?

 

[Booyaa]

Discuss...........................

Personally I think this is a PR disaster, and specialized needs to come out and say sorry for being such an ass.

Does this need another discussion?

 

[ianrauk]

Already being discussed at length HERE so will close this.