You are hereNew Belgium Urban Assault Ride organizers likes to rip shit off, but don't like it when local cyclists take it back.
New Belgium Urban Assault Ride organizers likes to rip shit off, but don't like it when local cyclists take it back.
Late last night I got some dirty dirt on the people who organize the New Belgium Urban Assault Ride, namely a company called AdventureFit. I can't share what they've done yet but I KNEW there was a reason I've always been wary about this event, I mean beyond the exorbitant ticket price and stifling rules. More news later, but damn, that's cold Josh. Why you got to do the local cycling community like that? It's ok for you to misappropriate something for your company's financial gain, yet when others try to restore it to its' original purpose you get bent out of shape about it? C'mon man, don't be like that. Didn't your momma ever teach you to share?
P.S. I don't hold this against you, New Belgium. I still love your beer and LOVE the Tour de Fat! Can't wait to take part again this year. It's just that company that runs your other event that's done us wrong.
I don't know Josh personally, but i know he's created and organized great events like the Jester climb as well as the crazy popular Urban Assault. I know he's been riding (and racing at a high level) well before myself and he's always seemed to have true love for everything two-wheels so i hope this is some good trash you got.
I knew there were cheaters there! I knew it!
... my concerns were actually warranted?
Seems a bit early for this story if you can't share the dirt yet ...
It is a little bit early for this story, but I'm horrible at biting my tongue and couldn't help myself. I'm waiting for someone else to release something before going into the full details. Consider this a "teaser".
wanna know.
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robbo
Ok I'm a little under the influence and my tongue is loose so here's a little more info: The promoters behind the Urban Assault Ride served a local riding group a cease and desist order regarding their name. If you'll notice they've dropped the word "urban" from their website and all their ride postings. There's more to it and reasons that I'm not going to get into, but the original definition has always been a mountain bike ride in an urban landscape, and not necessarily a point-based competition, which in the opinion of Adventure Fit Inc. should be the SOLE definition of the word combination Urban + Assault. Of course they're a small ride and want to continue to buy themselves beer, so they capitulated to the might of the company.
If anybody wants to check out the newly named Wednesday Assault Ride, keep an eye on their site as there should be one coming up shortly.
Unfortunately, US trademark law requires that you protect your trademarks. If you don't, you can lose them. This leads to silly situations like this where they have to threaten people using names that are even remotely similar.
In this case, `Urban assault' has been used for a long time. Remember the Urban Assault Vehicle? That was 1981. And the book you found is certainly appropriate. Though I'm not sure that previous art really applies in trademark cases, not like it does in patent cases, anyways.
Reading the trademark, it doesn't appear to even come close to covering the local rider's use of the term.
Of course, to defend against it properly would cost money, though you could do a little for free. Considering that their rides don't have anything to do with the situation described in the trademark, they could have written back and said that, see how far the trademark owner wants to go. Certainly, if it went to court, I'd guess that the riding group would win, but to get there would cost money, and for what?
Still, pretty lame. But not nearly as juicy as I was expecting ...
*sad trombone*