Nice one Specialized!

The biggest lesson here is as much as social media can be a boost, gazillions of opinionated people with incomplete facts egged on by the media's bent for sensationalizing can slay just about anybody.

Fuji owns worldwide rights to the Roubaix trademark.
Specialized stupidly used the Roubaix name on a bike line.

Fuji sued. Fuji won monetary reward and in the agreement Specialized could continue to use the name Roubaix but Fuji won the right to use the FSR trademark. FSR was a suspension design by specialized and though Fuji did not have access to the technology, they could plaster the name on anything they wanted. Touche!

So the lines might be fairly blurry here with regards to who can or has to protect what.

Yes, on the surface Fuji smells like roses but if you look at the statement that Fuji is fine with the shop using the name... and "let's get you licensed"... do we really think Fuji is going to be all good samaritan like and give them that license or do you think they'll exercise the right to request payment for that license.:hmmm:

Yup, the little guy gets screwed either way but if he plays his cards right, maybe the social media stuff will keep him afloat and happier than he ever would have been without the big brewhaha.
 
from the Specialized FB book page:

Screwed up, and I own it

I would like to apologize and let everyone know I realize I handled this situation wrong from the start and I’m very sorry for that. As many of you have probably already seen by now, I went up to Café Roubaix to meet with Dan in person to apologize and make good with him. Café Roubaix will continue on with its name. The video is up on Café Roubaix's Facebook page. Dan is the real deal, after meeting him I realize this and am embarrassed by how ridiculous this is. What happened was wrong. There are no excuses but I do feel like I owe it to you all to explain how we found ourselves in this situation, the lessons we've learned from it and, most importantly, how it will change the way we do things moving forward.

Over the past few years we’ve seen a massive spike in counterfeit products, and most of the riders have no idea these products are fake, which is extremely dangerous because the risk of failure on these untested products is extremely high. In one instance, the entire head tube and fork sheared off a counterfeit Tarmac, causing the rider who had no idea he was not on a genuine Specialized product to faceplant and destroy his shoulder. To give you an idea of how much this issue has blown up, 10 Specialized employees hunt fake products across 30 major ecommerce platforms, we've identified over 5,000 listings, worth $11,000,000 USD in counterfeit goods since January 1st of this year alone. This is about double what it was last year. Due to this we have recently gone after IP and trademark issues more aggressively in the interest of protecting the safety of riders and the livelihood of our dealers and their hard-working employees. See the attached picture to understand how dangerous fake goods are.

In the deal with Café Roubaix, the wheels were the red flag that got the attention of our outside attorney’s who were already sort of on red alert for anything that pops up, although Café Roubaix wasn’t in the same camp as the counterfeiters, they still got caught in the crossfire. There is so much activity with infringers that it’s overwhelming and I don’t see them all. The first I heard of it was Saturday morning and by Monday the thing went huge. But still, that was my fault, which is why I’m so embarrassed. I should have called Dan immediately.

I heard you and you can rest assured I took it to heart. I realize now that we went too far with this aggressive approach and as a result and in some cases we hurt the local bikes shops and small businesses we wanted to protect. As a result we’re going to take a much closer look at all pending and future intellectual property and trademark issues, making sure to only pursue those that present a clear and obvious danger. The letter on Epix Gear was issued before the Café Roubaix story broke and has since been pulled.

I handled this very poorly and I own full responsibility. Dan at Café Roubaix and I have become friends and he’s happy with the solution. I hope you too accept my sincere apology. Like you all, I’m passionate about cycling and want to do everything possible to grow the activity we all love.

Sincerely,

-Mike Sinyard
Founder
 
accept that as damage control, and a sincere look at how business is done.
a lesson.

my lawyer is a bulldog, if it is even remotely actionable she will pounce. wouldn't have it any other way. I don't tell her everything. costs too much.

Waiting for Dan to say something.....wish i was in grad school again to discuss this with a combo of marketing, legal, and strategy types....
 
The above explanation /apology is great. Seems very legit and heart felt. Like that he didn't only apologize but gave an explanation for their actions.

IMHO, if that explanation/apology isn't enough then you're just not being reasonable. IMHO.
 
To his credit, Sinyard wrote a proper apology. Lot's of "I" and specifics. I freakin' hate the standard "if I have done anything to offend anyone, then I am sorry" apology.
 
Question: Why does California have the most lawyers, and New Jersey the most toxic waste dumps?
Answer: New Jersey got first pick.
 
wonderturtle said:
The above explanation /apology is great. Seems very legit and heart felt. Like that he didn't only apologize but gave an explanation for their actions.

IMHO, if that explanation/apology isn't enough then you're just not being reasonable. IMHO.
Click to expand...

Agree. His point about the Tarmac headtube ripping off is a very good one. Like Jdog said in one of the first post - once that wheel with the Café Roubaix sticker was shown there was something to go after. If I bought a knock-off thinking it was real and it failed and messed me up I'd want Specialized to hunt the counter-fitters down.

Specialized just needs the trademark group and PR/Marketing to get their shit together a bit better going forward. Could have been a lot easier on Specialized if handled better up front.
 
That's an extremely solid response and apology. Too bad it won't appease the Facebook warriors, they're already running around with lit torches. But good stuff all the same.
 
I'm disappointed by all of the rhetoric on the internet about boycotting Specialized dealers. There are a lot of family-owned shops that carry the brand because it sells. These same shops are probably involved in supporting local rides, charities, and cycling clubs. I'd hate to see the actions of a short-sighted Canadian lawyer impact the livelihood of a good shop owner at home.
 
sylvester-stallone-chuck-norris.jpg
 
mstyer said:
I'm disappointed by all of the rhetoric on the internet about boycotting Specialized dealers. There are a lot of family-owned shops that carry the brand because it sells. These same shops are probably involved in supporting local rides, charities, and cycling clubs. I'd hate to see the actions of a short-sighted Canadian lawyer impact the livelihood of a good shop owner at home.
Click to expand...

Totally agree.

I am really started to get sick and tired of the "online lynch mob" mentality (my term) that has grown recently. Someone burps in the wrong direction and people get all upset and offended....instantly. It's like people are just sitting around and waiting for the next thing to get all upset about.

In this case, specialized screwed a bit. But they quickly realized the error of their ways and went out of their way to apologize and explain their actions. But For many, this won't be enough since they are still in lynch mob mode.
 
I'm not sold. If there wasn't a huge outcry on social media, I doubt specialized would have had such a chance of heart. Only my opinion.
 
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