Polaris starting enforcement of Indian Trademark

[Bill]

I sent Polaris Indian a letter yesterday questioning the wisdom of alienating all the people who kept the name alive all these years so that they could capitalize on it today. None of these people present a threat to them and could be advocates of the new brand instead of adversaries. Why piss off such a large group of people who have been and will continue to be unpaid promoters and supporters of the brand? How many more motorcycles do they stand to sell by adopting the belligerent position thay have? Or is it just possible they could be shooting themselves in the foot by denying others the freedom to continue to promote it?

[45OZ]

There is a legal defense of "dilution" that essentially nullifies a trademark if it is used by the general public for a significant period of time without permission. Classic examples are Bayer losing the "aspirin" trademark and 3M losing their rights to "cellophane." Also, a trademark can be lost through abandonment. There were many, many years that no motorcycles were being manufactured as Indian brand products - except, perhaps by Sammy Pierce. If Polaris has any sense, they will not risk losing to either of these defenses. Instead, they should work out a deal with Starklite, Kiwi, etc. whereby those companies can continue under license to do business as they have in the past. This license should be interminate and cost no more than $1/year. That way, all the players recognize Polaris's exclusive right to the trademark, and the antique Indian people will not be bothered.

Did I miss a post here ? I thought Crazy horse got a letter to stop using what appears to be the " indian" headdress as their logo on an actual motorcyle for sale (which if you look at, is is quite similiar to the real Indian logo) & I can see their point THEY OWN IT . But I did not see anything about Starklite, Kiwi, etc getting they same letter. Crazy horse is trying to market a new product that is VERY Similiar as the product Polaris is trying to maerket where as Starklite, Kiwi, etc are marketing products for vintage Indians that polaris has no interest in pursuing. Did Others get this leter or is this just an assumtion that they might?

[brian_groff]

As I had suggested early on, this appears to be an assault on Crazy Horse only, and it would be best if John White (JW) quietly worked out something mutually agreeable with IMI. JW is not well regarded in the 'Indian Motorcycle Community' (referring to the forum under same name that many of the new owners participate in). I think his responses on CyrilHuze (sp?) blog pretty much sums up his character.

For those not aware, JW obtained the PP100 engine castings, designs, molds, etc. and began servicing / reproducing the engines. There was never any attempt to disguise the biz as Indian, since Indian had just gone belly up at the time. The engines today, dubbed "bottletops," are used in PJD bikes, as well as BBB bikes, and they're now very reliable, but the reliability is due largely to collective efforts from folks like Blackhawk, Posie, and Malfa ... and JW figuring out the failure modes.

The 'dilution' legal defense is an interesting point, and would likely well protect the Starks and others. Thx. Coolbreeze for mentioning that.

Agreed. Indian 1901 - 1953. The End. I'm an Indian guy to the bone, and am not liking what I'm seeing from the Polaris consumer response surveys. There hasn't been a single new idea out of the Spirit Lake bunch. Ugh ...