Backcountry.com not playing nice

...so, no go on the $10 referral?
https://www.backcountry.com/sc/raf-landing-test

anyone?

anyone?

Bueller? 

Chris Blatchley wrote:
But the original fuckup was Backcountry applying and being granted the Backcountry trademark.

Especially considering there is a good gear shop in Truckee called The Backcountry that has been around longer than the website...

Also TSG Partners, who own, backcountry.com, (eg who funding this BS) also has a number of other brands that we all probably buy. Like Nuun, Stumptown, Cytosport, Canyon Bikes... etc. Putting pressure there also helps.
 
http://www.tsgconsumer.com/portfolio

A key issue with trademarking of fairly generic words is does the alleged infringement actually create confusion for the consumer. So a court would consider not just the word itself but also the context, ie. Apple Records was not competing with nor damaged by a personal computer business using the same generic word. Patagonia is an example of another outdoor brand with a generic word name that they still defend. But they defend it mostly when someone is clearly trying to piggyback off THEIR brand by creating confusion that the product is really coming from Patagonia, the outdoor fashion company. They've sued people for trying to brand things "Patagucci," "Fratagonia" etc. And for knocking off their logo and look without the name. Most recently they have sued Anahauser Busch for creating "Patagonia Beer" and marketing it to the ski and bike crowd. All that seems reasonable and sensible. As opposed to going to Patagonia and suing every tour company with "Patagonia" in their name or a picture of Fitzroy.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190906/09441742938/ab-inbev-fails-to-get-patagonia-trademark-suit-dismissed.shtml

Forthright wrote:

Especially considering there is a good gear shop in Truckee called The Backcountry that has been around longer than the website...

Also TSG Partners, who own, backcountry.com, (eg who funding this BS) also has a number of other brands that we all probably buy. Like Nuun, Stumptown, Cytosport, Canyon Bikes... etc. Putting pressure there also helps.
 
http://www.tsgconsumer.com/portfolio

The first recorded use of the word 'backcountry' in its modern sense predates the United States of America...
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/backcountry

I'm an engineer, not a lawyer, but it seems like a clear-cut case that any attempt to obstruct use of the term 'backcountry' with regards to outdoor gear intended for the fucking backcountry is spurious.

M Sprague wrote: Here is information on the owners further up the food chain https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/tsg-consumer-partners#section-overview
and their website showing what other brands they own. If you want to boycott, you may want to take a look at the list http://www.tsgconsumer.com/portfolio. 

PBR!!!  I can find another favorite shitty beer easily enough, but damn, Smart Balance???  That one will be tough to give up.

Forthright wrote:

Especially considering there is a good gear shop in Truckee called The Backcountry that has been around longer than the website...

Also TSG Partners, who own, backcountry.com, (eg who funding this BS) also has a number of other brands that we all probably buy. Like Nuun, Stumptown, Cytosport, Canyon Bikes... etc. Putting pressure there also helps.
 
http://www.tsgconsumer.com/portfolio

Also, if you click on Backcountry at the TSG site you will see that they were purchased by the private equity group in 2015. And the lawsuits started in 2016. Guess it's part of TSG's business strategy.

lloyd wrote: Bought an item recently. Wasn't on sale and wasn't particularly cheap. It came with free two-day shipping. I ordered it on Wednesday, expected it by Friday, called them on Tuesday to see WTF was going on, they claimed it had gone out and somehow had been lost during delivery. Finally got the second two-day shipment on Thursday. Have heard other stories about items just not showing up on direct experience from friends.

Typical experience. They routinely fail to deliver or deliver the wrong stuff, order after order. Their order management capabilities are pathetic.Their customer service is constructed of hot air. I'd be ashamed to work there.

Doug Lintz wrote:

PBR!!!  I can find another favorite shitty beer easily enough, but damn, Smart Balance???  That one will be tough to give up.

Even worse - Duckhorn Vineyards

Gerrit Verbeek wrote: So, interestingly enough, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board established this year (in a case attempting to trademark 'Rapunzel') that consumers have standing to challenge generic trademarks:

https://www.theiplawblog.com/2019/01/articles/trademark-law/consumers-have-standing-to-challenge-trademark-registrations/
“Consumers, like competitors, may have a real interest in keeping merely descriptive or generic words in the public domain, (1) to prevent the owner of a mark from inhibiting competition in the sale of particular goods; and (2) to maintain freedom of the public to use the language involved, thus avoiding the possibility of harassing infringement suits by the registrant against others who use the mark when advertising or describing their own products.”

'Backcountry' has been in use as a geographic descriptor for centuries and is included in the 1964 Wilderness Act.

I wonder what the process is to file a group petition (in the legal sense, not in the moral-high-ground-social-media-Like-and-Subscribe sense) to rescind the trademark...

Nice Gerrit, I was thinking in parallel all day.  Let me do some research finding away for us forum users to file a brief with USPTO on backcountry, it’s use and what it means to us. 

To be clear, I should have mentioned that some of the brands listed on the TSG site are no longer owned by them. ( I edited my earlier post to make that clearer.)

It is funny that the controversy is already mentioned in the Backcountry page of Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backcountry.com. The Wiki page says the lawsuits started in October 2018, but that seems inaccurate in view of the US patent and Trademark Office which clearly shows filings as far back as July 2016, though these filings may be separate precursors to the actual lawsuits.

M Sprague wrote: It is funny that the controversy is already mentioned in the Backcountry page of Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backcountry.com. The Wiki page says the lawsuits started in October 2018, but that seems inaccurate in view of the US patent and Trademark Office which clearly shows filings as far back as July 2016.

I love it!

In October 2018, Backcountry.com filed for trademarks protecting the word “backcountry", then proceeded to file lawsuits against smaller companies with the word "backcountry" in them, such as Backcountry Denim (now known as BDCo), Backcountry eBikes (now known as Backcou eBikes), Backcountry Babes (a female avalanche education clinic), and Marquette Backcountry Skis[9]. This slew of lawsuits has caused huge controversy with backcountry enthusiasts around the world, leading to a current social media backlash in late October 2019.

The sad part is, I read through some of the legal proceedings and backcountry has been winning almost all of their claims. These small businesses can't hold their own against a giant company with greedy lawyers and a greedy CEO. 

I assume that is exactly their tactic: to pursue small companies who do not have the funds to defend themselves, in order to set precedent for future cases against larger companies that possibly have the funds to defend a case.  

Imagine how many people went to court over the word "Amazon"

Señor Arroz wrote: A key issue with trademarking of fairly generic words is does the alleged infringement actually create confusion for the consumer. So a court would consider not just the word itself but also the context, ie. Apple Records was not competing with nor damaged by a personal computer business using the same generic word. Patagonia is an example of another outdoor brand with a generic word name that they still defend. But they defend it mostly when someone is clearly trying to piggyback off THEIR brand by creating confusion that the product is really coming from Patagonia, the outdoor fashion company. They've sued people for trying to brand things "Patagucci," "Fratagonia" etc. And for knocking off their logo and look without the name. Most recently they have sued Anahauser Busch for creating "Patagonia Beer" and marketing it to the ski and bike crowd. All that seems reasonable and sensible. As opposed to going to Patagonia and suing every tour company with "Patagonia" in their name or a picture of Fitzroy.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190906/09441742938/ab-inbev-fails-to-get-patagonia-trademark-suit-dismissed.shtml

I recall that Patagonia sued tiny Jrat for selling the Ratagonia shirt. 

M Mobes wrote: Imagine how many people went to court over the word "Amazon"

There is actually a huge ongoing lawsuit between Amazon, Inc. and the actual South American countries which encompass the Amazon about who should have rights to the .amazon internet domain. Predictably, the trillion dollar corporation which was established in 1994 is winning over a geographic name which predates them by about 400 years.

I just cancelled my account with a Gearhead.  "Sam D." told me it has nothing to do with the name, but the font that they've trademarked.

EDIT: I checked the logo for Backcountry Babes.  The font doesn't look anything like the one they use.  I called him on his bullshit and I was disconnected.

Matt N wrote: Call me a whore, but I buy from wherever is cheapest.

If I'm not supporting a local business, lowest price wins every time.

*and usually BC is NOT the cheapest. 

As annoyed as I have been in the past with CampSaver, they price match and sometimes have broken coupons/don't charge tax (I am in CA so that's rare). All of this to say backcountry hasn't gotten my business in a hot sec and won't any time soon.

There is a Facebook group created to add your name to the boycott. Please join and share. We will also provide updates on their lawsuits and media coverage we hope to get on these backward mother truckers. I think it’s time the outdoor community made an example out of a corporation that stepped outside our ethics and standards and is being predatory. This sets precedent.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/538528110277900/?ref=share

A big corporation does what big corporations do and everyone starts calling for boycotts while explaining times where the big corporation didn't have a perfect transaction. Murica.  I don't like what they're doing either but I get that there's a lot I don't like from big corporations. I would've expected more of an outcry about Black Diamond moving out than a trademarked company doing what attorneys for trademarked companies tell them they should do. IMO the problem is more in the fact that common words can be trademarked and protected. I wish Backcountry would try to work with the smaller companies to find a win win buy they're not. (At least it doesn't appear that way).. Either way, my experience with Backcountry has been stellar. If I boycotted every store or company doing something I didn't like then I'd be living off the grid and would be self sustained. Maybe I voice my opinion to them, maybe I don't. It'll probably fall on deaf ears, I don't know. I do know that boycotting them will possibly effect the lower end worker more than the king of that corporation. And for what? Because they're doing what big corporations do? Big time coffee companies do it. Clothing companies do it. Very large cancer awareness companies do it (which seems way more unacceptable IMO). Go ahead. Live off grid. (Or pretend you will in order to feel like you're making a change in the world.) As for me, cheaper prices (especially due to them pairing with the AAC to help out), 2 day free shipping, gearhead help, and my past experiences with them are more than enough to keep me coming than them doing what many companies do.